A Texas firefighter has built a new dryer that quickly dries turnout gear and cuts down exposure to toxins.
Fort Worth engineer Alex Cacho developed the dryer, which can hold four suits at a time and dry them in a fourth of the time it usually takes, KDFW-TV reports. He was motivated to build the machine as a way to stop his colleagues from having to respond to calls in gear that was either sooty or soaking wet, fellow engineer Mike Drivdahl said.
"I would hang my gear up because it was wet, and when we came back on our next shift it would still be damp," Drivdahl told KDFW.
"He saw a need for us to find a way to dry our gear faster and was able to put together an economical way to do that," he added.
Commercial dryers can cost between $1,200 to $12,000, but Cacho is able to build his dryer for around $1,500. So far, he has made three dryers for the department, and seven more machines are expected to be added at various stations, according to the TV station.
