MONTGOMERY CO., Texas - A gear dryer built by Woodlands firefighters is saving them thousands of dollars and could improve response times.
Lt. Chris Polnick is known as the “MacGyver” of his department by his colleagues. A reference to the popular 1980’s television show where a secret agent uses common household items around him, to save the day.
The gear dryer found in station 4 isn’t lifesaving, but it’s become an invaluable resource.
“We were like okay, we’ll see where he goes,” said Battalion Chief Michael Berryman.
One week, a couple pieces of wood and PVC piping later and you have something that looks like nothing you know. That’s until it comes time to use it.
“Every hole has its place. It’s not like Polnick was drilling for the sake of drilling,” Berryman said.
Depending on our Texas humidity, Berryman says drying a uniform inside and out can take as much as 36 hours. That’s doing it the old fashioned way where gear is suspended with hooks and a nearby shop fan does most of the work.
Polnick’s dryer cuts the wait down to as few as two hours. Effectively making this invention no one knew about until it was started, one of the most efficient devices they now have.
“Not only does it cut down on time, but it cuts down on cost,” Berryman said.
Weeks ago, firefighters would have had to share gear if their own was drying out. In a station where you have only four or five firefighters working at a time, it can be challenging.
No one wants to put on wet clothes, much less waste time searching for gear in an emergency.
Beyond the obvious setbacks, firefighters say you can actually get burns on your skin from the irritation.
Sure, you could be like some departments who will spend thousands on spare gear or industrial dryers, but maybe a little elbow grease wouldn’t hurt.
The fire department currently only has one of these dryers in the fleet, but say they plan to build one for each station.