Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service (WFPS) crews are so happy with the sound of a new siren currently being used on a few fire trucks that the city is now ordering more.
Late last year, WFPS received four stock engines that came with new Federal Signal eQ2B sirens pre-installed.
While the city didn’t specifically request the new sirens at the time of leasing, crews liked the way they sound.
“Our crews have had months of using them and found that the siren really clears the lanes better — and the intersections — and makes it safer for the crews responding and everybody driving through the intersections as well,” WFPS Emergency Mechanical Services Director Brad Enders said.
The city has now ordered 12 more eQ2B sirens, which Enders said cost about $1,500 each, to be installed with the rest of the new fire trucks the service is expecting.
Five new fire trucks are expected this year and another seven are expected in 2021, as part of the department’s regular replacement program.
Enders said adding the sirens will help more crews alert drivers they need to pull over to the right when they’re heading to an emergency.
“It really just hits people’s ear differently,” Enders said.
The eQ2B sirens will also be installed with Whelen Howler sirens, which were first tested in district chief of paramedic operations vehicles over the last few years.
Whelen Howler sirens send vibrations to the cars around them in an attempt to improve safety for first responders and drivers.
“The distracted driving that goes on now with earbuds and cell phones and all those things, we need to find ways that we can get the sounds through to the drivers better.”