VIDEO: Lubbock Fire Rescue is taking action to increase safety for first responders.
On Jan. 11, 2020, Lubbock firefighter Eric Hill and Matt Dawson, along with Lubbock police officer Nicholas Reyna, were responding to a rollover when a car struck them. Reyna and Hill both died. Before Dawsonโs death in 2023, he advocated for first responder safety and compensation for those who are injured. His lasting impact lies with the Matt Dawson Act. Lieutenant Hillโs family also started the 5-5-5 Initiative to remind everyone to drive more carefully in order to protect other workers on the road.
This is why LFR unveiled a dedicated blocker truck to help with traffic management when responders are on the scene, LFR public information officer Derek Delgado said. โAfter the Jan. 11 incident, we started looking at ways where we could improve our roadway incident procedures and obviously prevent something like the Jan. 11 from happening again,โ Delgado said.
He said blocker 17 is a repurposed fire engine designed to give an additional layer of safety to first responders working on roadways during emergencies. Blocker 17, which will be placed at Fire Station 17, features directional lighting, LED lighting and a lighted sign board. That is all designed to make sure drivers are aware of whatโs ahead and how to proceed. A seal logo dedicated to Dawson is also featured on the side of the engine.
โSo our goal with this is to give you the early warning on where we want you to go, whether we want you to slow down, whether we want you to merge right, whether we want you to merge left or whether we want you to split,โ Delgado said.
