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Saunemin man's invention improves firefighter safety
By Michelle Koetters
mkoetters@pantagraph.com
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SAUNEMIN -- One fire truck supplier’s refusal to accept conventional wisdom led to a new product.

Dennis Moore, owner of Quad County Fire Equipment in Saunemin, has invented SCENEdots, circular reflective material about the size of a nickel that will help make the back of a fire truck more visible, especially at an accident scene at night.

That means better safety for firefighters, as well, Moore said.

Fire trucks often have reflective striping on three sides of the engine, but not on the rear of the truck because of the different material used to manufacture that part of the vehicle, Moore said. The back surface is not smooth, so the traditional striping will not stay, Moore said.

For years, industry experts have said nothing could be done to make this area easier to see.

“I’ve just never accepted that fact,” said Moore, who has sold and serviced fire trucks for 16 years.

And so the concept behind SCENEdots was born.

SCENEdots use the same reflective material fire departments have used for years but in a more flexible format, Moore said.

“We didn’t reinvent the wheel or anything,” Moore said. “We just cut it.”

While the back end of many fire engines is primarily rough, some smooth surface area exists between raised areas of the truck. That’s where firefighters can apply the ¾-inch red, white, blue, yellow or orange dots in any configuration, Moore said.

“You can create any type of striping, vertical, horizontal,” Moore said.

And it’s so simple, firefighters can put the dots on their trucks on their own, he said.

The material cost to apply SCENEdots to one truck could range from $150 to $1,000, depending on the area covered, Moore said. The average cost is about $350 to $400.

Moore has a patent pending on SCENEdots. Since he introduced his invention in the spring, he has been supplying fire departments across the nation with the reflective aids.

Business has picked up even more since the National Fire Protection Association proposed a change that would require all new trucks to have some red and yellow striping on the back of the vehicles to improve rear visibility, Moore said. If passed in October, it would become standard on all new trucks after January, he said.

But Moore is receiving a lot of business for existing fire trucks that would not even be required to have the reflective tape, he said.

“Now that they have a way to fix the problem, they want to fix it. … Now they’re saying, ‘We need to make our existing trucks just as safe as our new trucks,’” Moore said.

The Saunemin Fire Protection District is one such department.

The department bought some SCENEdots for one of its trucks earlier this spring and may buy more for another vehicle, said Chief Gary Swartz.

“We bought it as another method of firefighter safety,” Swartz said.

Take a look
Dennis Moore has a patent pending on SCENEdots which is reflective tape cut into dots to fit in the spaces on the rough surface of the back of emergency vehicles. The dots come in a variety of colors and can be arranged in any pattern of preference. The example is on display at Moore's Quad County Fire Equipment business. (Pantagraph/LORI ANN COOK)
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Reader comments on this story - 4 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

Uncle Andy wrote on Aug 25, 2007 10:51 AM:

" Don't firetrucks have flashing lights? I would think that most of the people who run into a big red flashing truck probably would run into it no matter what type of reflective tape it had on it. I think the best thing to do would be to equip police vehicles with pop-up lighted signs (perhaps hanging inside the trunk lid) that can display changeable messages such as "SLOW DOWN - EMERGENCY VEHICLES AHEAD" and park these about a quarter-mile "up-traffic". "

yo wrote on Aug 24, 2007 11:28 PM:

" many new fire trucks and ambulances are coming with the back of the unit fully reflective. big reflective strips on the back work will at night on the highways. some also have designs starting in the front working down the sides that are also reflective. safety for these units has increased much over the past couple years. "

Rescue Me wrote on Aug 24, 2007 11:18 PM:

" Lifeline adopted the new reflective stripes last summer on their new ambulances and Endeavors. I see the new paramedic vehicles BFD has also has the new striping. "

The Graduate wrote on Aug 24, 2007 10:38 PM:

" One word says it all Bromochlorodifluoromethane. "
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