Commander’s Emergency Lights...etc…

[1USMC]

This thread perhaps, may be of interest to only a very small minority of forum members.

My Commander replaced my primary emergency response vehicle ( 1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee , I still have... ) for a Fire Rescue Department I am a member of. I have seen and heard of too many first responders being needlessly injured or killed while they are responding to or after they arrive on an emergency scene. Proper emergency lighting unfortunately doesn’t always protect us.. but it can help.

I was going to wait to post this until my project is complete with the driving, scene and emergency lights that will go on my roof rack. The wiring, fuses, relays and diodes are complete; the rack was ordered in February and over 7 months later, still not delivered. So hopefully I will “complete” this project and update this thread sometime in the future.

..........This is how my Commander is outfitted for emergency operations…...

My most important and cherished light controller is my flexible red/white lens reading light !





The rest of the lights, PA and siren control are controlled by a Whelen HHS220 hand held computerized controller. The guts are mounted under the passenger's seat.






Sound..This is my speaker/ siren and where I mounted it. I made two brackets with a 90 deg bend on one end.













Strobe lights have advantages and disadvantages.

To install them, drilling holes in my lights had me a little uneasy, so I practiced on my 1974 Dodge Van’s extra tail lights.






I used the front turn/marker lights because I thought it would give me the best coverage/angle.

So a hole was drilled here…..





Now two….





Strobe installed ……

[1USMC]

Moving on to the rear, I would place a pair in the backup and brake lights









Back up...........










I don’t think anyone reading this will appreciate the many 10’s of hours and 1,000’s of photos I took trying to get a photo of the strobes at the exact moment they flashed, let alone the spots I saw for weeks after that !

But I was willing to sacrifice for the greater good, the Forum !










Wires >>> Oh yes can’t go on to much further without all the wires….

Wires come from everywhere !!









This is the Whelen controller being wired under the passenger seat.

[1USMC]

Until the roof rack arrives and the lights are mounted on it.

This 50 watt HID remote magnetic mount light has came in handy many times.






There is a permanent wireless remote mounted on the dash.






and my portable wireless remote , so you can adjust the light from the scene without having to return to the vehicle.

















Side rear, inside red/blue.










Two outside pair of red/white LEDs on the back and front of the top rail that I had to make a custom mount for.

[1USMC]

The rear LEDs ……



















And high above….....







This dual pair of LED’s are mounted behind the front grill











The PIAA’s are also wired to a programmable flasher.

[1USMC]

Front forward and corner LED’s behind the windshield

[1USMC]

Ok, now for the last few hard core readers, that have made it this far.

You are all waiting to see the spectacular photos of a Commander at the scene of a wide variety of emergency settings !!

Like the one during a wildland fire when a mutual aid department’s brush truck’s alternator failed and the truck stopped running while in the middle of fighting the brush fire. They needed someone to come to their remote location and give them a jump ASAP. The Commander could easily handle the terrain and has a front mounted jumper cable connection along with heavy duty cables. ….

.......So now the wind shifted and the 20 foot flames raced along, accelerating towards the stranded fire fighters and their inoperative truck, leaving them no escape path…but the Commander was on the way…...

OK , it's my story so I thought I could embellish it a little bit.!!!.

It would have been a good photo when I arrived..

However like this one, and at every other call I respond to , I have found myself a little too busy to stop and go take pictures of my Commander. ...... Sorry …..

So the best I can do is post the two photos below, given to me, while at small house fire. The PD is supposed to block the street with their vehicles. We had residents trying to drive through the scene and over our hoses.

I ended up having to move my vehicle to help block the road.

The call was for both fire suppression and then after that, Red Cross assistance, that’s why both signs are displayed.

[pjmjr508]

Very nice & clean setup.

[criket]

I vote your Jeep the Ultimate Jeep of the month. This thing is about as cool as it can get. You do very nice work.

[LWM]

Love this thread, wish I could bring my XK out for the same treatment.

[Matt]

Definitely the coolest emergency response vehicle i've ever seen. People must to triple takes when you're going by with the flashers on