Pelican Protects: Weathering the Storm

Pelican Protects, especially in the unexpected.

In early 2017, a San Bernardino County Fire crew was responding to a semi-truck rollover on a Southern California freeway when they found themselves and their truck teetering on the edge of a lane that had been washed away by rushing floodwaters.

In an interview with FIREWIRE Magazine, Captain Jason Pitsor recounts:

“In the passenger seat, as I looked up from the computer, I saw to my right that there was absolutely no lane in front of us. I thought my eyes were still adjusting from looking at the bright computer screen, but I soon realized that what I was seeing was not an illusion—we were heading straight for a huge hole in the freeway. At this moment, Engineer Payton was still looking over his shoulder, and Firefighter/ Paramedic Daniel Carmichael, sitting in the rear of the cab on the captain’s side, still was unaware of the approaching hazard. Once I realized what I was seeing, I screamed “Terry!” as Engineer Payton turned his head, instinctively cranking the wheel as hard as he could to the left to avoid plunging the rig into the hole. I remember the engine becoming airborne for a split second and landing violently on the other side of the washed out section. We continued sliding on the edge of the jagged piece of concrete left behind from the initial collapse until coming to a sudden and violent stop.”

They were able to escape minutes before their engine went over the side, but were not able to grab any of their gear.

Firefighters had already evacuated the vehicle and no injuries were reported. https://twitter.com/SBCOUNTYFIRE/status/832811232532901889

When they returned to the site the next day they found that their Pelican EMS Case was the only piece of equipment that survived the crash. Everything inside the case was in perfect working order.

Pelican Professional cases are used by the PROs that know to expect the unexpected - Built to Protect their critical gear in cases that are water, crush and dust proof. Learn more about the state of the art Pelican Air Case line here.

Here at Pelican we're incredibly relieved and thankful that no-one was injured while in the line of duty and thank the San Bernardino Fire Department for answering the call.

If you'd like to share your story of how your Pelican product performed under less than expected environments please post with the hashtag #PelicanPRO on Instagram.