LENEXA, Kan. — In an effort to get smoke out quicker from large buildings, the Lenexa Fire Department uses a tool called Vent 94.
Vent 94's primary function is for moving a large amount of air, according to Lenexa Fire.
It is also capable of shooting water for cooling purposes.
The federally-funded tool was purchased in 2012. Battalion Chief Bob Welch said for the most part, it's used in large structures where natural ventilation or using portable fans that come from the trucks just aren't efficient enough to get the smoke out in a timely manner.
"Some of those larger structures are called 'mega structures,' and you get a small fire in there that produces quite a bit of smoke," Welch said. "That smoke just sits until you can get something in there to let it ventilate or you can just let time take over. But if we can put that fan in there, and even a bay opening, where trucks go back and load and unload, we can get it out a lot faster."
Welch said situations in which Vent 94 is used typically don't have extremely heavy smoke, but rather the tool is used for convenience, so people are able to get back inside their building faster.
"If it's a really large fire, there's bigger issues to deal with than ventilating it." Welch said. "We're talking about the smaller fire. We can get that smoke out and get people back in doing their daily activities quicker through these ventilation efforts."
Lenexa Fire isn't the only department that uses the fan. It is used throughout Johnson County.
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