The Falls Supervisors invited Fire Marshal Rich Dippolito and fire police representatives to demonstrate new battery-operated flares that the township recently purchased during Monday’s meeting.
Supervisor Vice Chairman Jeff Boraski said he heard of another municipality that had begun using battery-operated flares and thought it was a great product.
Unlike live flares, which last roughly 20 minutes, battery-operated flares last longer, can be synced and can be programmed to do different things, according to Dippolito. So far, the township has roughly a dozen battery-powered flares, Dippolito said. Fire police are in the process of trying them out and have not yet used them for traffic or emergency incidents.
Falls purchased the flares from a company called pi-lit. According to the company, the flares can “automatically sequence the flash.”
“Approaching drivers see a sequentially-lit string of flares much like a runway landing strip that guides traffic around the incident or work zone,” according to the company website. “They are easy to deploy and provide advanced traffic guidance and safety.”
For Dippolito, safety is the first priority.
“Anything to make it safer is better,” he said.
