The Norwalk Fire Department started the new year with a new way to protect firefighters when they respond to incidents on I-95, the Merritt Parkway or the Route 7 Connector: a highway blocking apparatus.

“The purpose it serves is to respond to emergency scenes on the highway to block a lane of traffic and create a safe work zone for firefighters who are operating at vehicle fires, motor vehicle accidents or any type of incident on the highway,” explained Assistant Chief Edward McCabe.

The truck is a Freightliner M2 chassis with a mounted attenuator and a directional arrow traffic routing sign, according to McCabe.

It’s parked before a scene on the highway in the lane firefighters want to close. Then, from the safety of the cab, the driver remotely sets up what's called an attenuator or "crash cushion."

“He or she does not need to get into traffic, does not need to put themselves into harm’s way to set up the attenuator and to create that safe lane,” McCabe said. “In the event that a vehicle hits it, the attenuator is designed to absorb the kinetic energy of that crash, keeping both the emergency responders safe but also protecting the life of the driver of the errant vehicle by creating that crush zone.”

For the past 10 years, like many departments, Norwalk used a second fire engine as a blocking vehicle at highway scenes.

“The problem with that is that if that vehicle gets hit, it's $1 million to replace. It can also take four years to replace a fire engine for time of delivery. And most importantly, the firefighters that are crewing that vehicle are in harm's way,” McCabe told News 12.

There were over a dozen incidents of errant cars and trucks hitting fire, police and DOT vehicles and personnel on Connecticut highways in 2024, some of them fatal.

McCabe said the catalyst for Norwalk was in June when a tractor trailer hit a Greenwich fire engine that was blocking an accident scene on I-95. Three firefighters in the engine went to the hospital hurt, spotlighting why the highway is one of the most unsafe places the job takes them.

“The unpredictability of the highway is really what makes it so dangerous for us and what causes the need for a truck like this,” McCabe said.

The attenuator bumper can be replaced if damaged, but even if the truck is destroyed while absorbing the crash, it’s replaceable at a tenth of the cost of a new fire engine and in just weeks, according to McCabe.

Attenuator trucks are commonly used by DOT workers and construction companies to close highway lanes.

McCabe told News 12 as far as he knows, Norwalk is just the third fire department in the country to have one. The others are in Michigan and Texas. McCabe said both departments have had their highway blocking trucks hit, and the vehicles did the job, absorbing the impact and keeping everyone safe.

It’s estimated Norwalk’s truck will respond to over 250 incidents this year. McCabe said it’s already been out on 12 highway calls.