Legacy Regional Protective Services has replaced its hydraulic extrication equipment with battery-powered tools, cutting deployment time from minutes to seconds and freeing up crew members during vehicle extrication calls.
Chief Dean Peters said the upgrade moved fast once it started. He and Deputy Chief Dumais were reviewing the department’s Legacy Asset Management Plan with council when a deal came up on in-stock equipment.
“It didn’t have a shelf life, so council acted quickly,” Peters said.
Within a month of the first discussion, the new tools were on a truck.
The department spent $43,000 on the equipment, funded through its annual budget as part of the asset management plan rather than through grants or fundraising.
The old hydraulic system required a Honda-powered pump, hoses, and typically two to three firefighters to deploy. One person ran the pump while others handled the cutting and spreading tools. The battery tools cut that down to a one person operation, ready to work within seconds instead of the multi-step process hydraulics demanded.
Peters said that matters most when seconds count. Without hoses running across the scene, crews also face fewer tripping hazards and can work in any lighting, weather or ground condition.
The tools have gotten more capable too. Older extrication techniques involved cutting multiple structural points on a vehicle to let weaker tools do the job. Crews now place tool tips and spread in fewer steps. Peters said the newest generation of battery tools works at roughly twice the speed of the 2016 era equipment.
The new tools run on standard DeWalt batteries, the same platform Legacy’s equipment manufacturer, Amkus, has used since it began building electric tools. A newer line also runs on Milwaukee batteries.
That standardization now reaches across the department’s gear. Scene lighting, grinders, reciprocating saws, chainsaws and ventilation fans all draw from the same battery type. Previously, each ran its own combustion engine or a separate battery system requiring its own charger.
Chainsaws, generators and hydraulic pumps have all come off Legacy’s fire engines as a result. Weekly truck checks that once meant starting and maintaining multiple small engines now amount to checking battery indicators and recharging as needed.
“If a battery fails, I can stop at any one of a dozen stores in Lloridminster and buy a replacement,” Peters said, calling it a significant saving in both cost and downtime compared to ordering parts directly from a manufacturer.
The switch has also changed training. Firefighters no longer need to train as hydraulic pump operators, and extrication procedures continue to evolve alongside the tools’ growing power.
Peters credited council for funding the equipment and firefighters for the training required to keep pace with it.
“All parts of the team share the commitment to the safety of the people we represent and serve,” he said.
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