One of the Irving Fire Department’s “blocker” units, designed to block scenes for emergency responders, did its job this morning. The repurposed fire truck was struck and destroyed by a passing vehicle, protecting emergency responders working a scene.

Irving police were working a crash scene along westbound 183 near Loop 12 as Blocker 8 was parked on the highway. The passing vehicle crashed into the Blocker unit, shielding the car from crashing into emergency responders. No emergency responders were injured. Unfortunately, the blocker unit was destroyed.

One of the deadliest places for emergency responders is on the highway. Irving FD implemented its blocker program to shield distracted, impaired, or just bad drivers from crashing into scenes. Old fire trucks that had been replaced by newer ones were repurposed, stripped of traditional fire equipment, and upfitted with emergency and traffic lights. The blocker units are dispatched with other fire and police units to protect highway scenes. These blockers not only protect emergency responders, but also their rigs. Fire trucks are big and expensive apparatus. Accidents, even minor ones, can cause thousands of dollars worth of damage, or even worse, destroyed.

A very smart and important program from Irving to protect their professional emergency workers and their expensive trucks!