2022 News

Quick Response Addresses Public Safety Crisis

Quick Response Addresses Public Safety Crisis
02.17.2022

When an electrical outage hit the City of Johnston Fire Department Station #38, the fire crew on duty figured the backup generator would handle the load to ensure they had the power required to continue to operate from the building located on Northwest 62nd Avenue.

That’s not what happened.

The backup generator failed, forcing the station to close while a team from Ziegler Caterpillar in Altoona responded to address the issue. That crew was able to bypass the backup power transfer switch, but in doing so discovered around half of the building’s electrical components had been destroyed by the backup generator.

That generator was programmed to output 420 volts to a building that required only 208 volts. The list of systems affected included the overhead garage doors, HVAC systems, water heaters, appliances and many other systems critical to operating the public safety facility.

“This rendered the facility useless,” said Scott Richmann, Johnston Police Department Administrative Services Officer, in a letter to BJ Baker III, chair of the Baker Group Board of Directors, “and our crews were forced to relocate to other nearby stations. This caused an immediate disruption in response times for emergency calls for service as crews were no longer able to respond from that station.”

One call to Baker Group Service Electrician Dave Terrill put the fire station on the road to recovery. Terrill visited with Richmann late in the evening the day of the incident. Terrill assured Richmann that Baker Group would have a service team onsite first thing the next morning.

Led by Terrill and Service Repair Project Manager Jim Sullivan, the Baker Group team was able to put temporary fixes in place in just 12 hours, allowing the fire crew to reoccupy the station. More permanent fixes were completed in the weeks following.

“We cannot begin to give enough credit to Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Terrill and the rest of the Baker Group team for the efforts they put into securing replacement parts and making both a few temporary and some permanent fixes to the facility,” Richmann’s letter reads.

“They were even able to make repairs to unique pieces of equipment that they do not normally work on,” the letter continues. “The fact that we were able to get the building back in service in less than 12 hours was simply phenomenal. Hats off to Baker Group for the quick response and dedication to public safety they displayed during this crisis.”

Learn more about Baker Group’s 24/7/365 service repair offerings.

About Baker Group

Baker Group is a commercial and industrial specialty contractor based in Ankeny, Iowa. With more than 1,000 employees, Baker Group is the Midwest’s premier full-service specialty contractor providing mechanical, industrial, sheet metal, electrical, building automation, process automation, security systems, fire alarm systems, parking/revenue controls and 24/7/365 service. For more information, call 855.262.4000 or visit www.thebakergroup.com.

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