Mistakes happen quickly. They can quickly turn a hero in the attic – fixing a leaky roof – into the idiot lying on the living room floor carrying drywall and insulation. That’s usually when the real heroes have to be called in, like the emergency response team stationed at Toyota’s Arizona Proving Ground, northwest of Phoenix. We spoke with TAPG’s shift leader for the facility’s local firefighting team about his daily driver and some of the more exciting shifts he’s worked during his tenure at the 12,000-acre test site. Here’s what we learned.
Meet Don Donka’s Sequoia
While Toyota hosted a group of media at its largest proving ground, Don Donka ate his lunch in the ventilated seat of his customized Toyota Sequoia, waiting for the next emergency. Donka was with TAPG during the famous “coyote incident” in 2009 when Joe Gibbs Racing driver Brad Coleman struck a coyote while driving nearly 200 miles per hour in a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car. According to him, emergencies at TAPG are rarely so horrific.
“In the time I’ve been here, we’ve only sent maybe three people to the hospital,” Donka explained. “We’ve had rollovers on the dirt track where they’d catch a tire in a groove, and with all the dirt and height here, this [Sequoia] goes where an ambulance cannot reach. And it’s coming faster.”
The Platinum-spec body-on-frame SUV, now fitted with emergency lights and a ‘Star of Life’ badge, has spent all of its 23,600 kilometers under Toyota ownership. It started life as a press vehicle before being retired and handed over to the security team. From there it was stripped of badging and decorations and transformed into something you won’t find at your local dealer during Toyotathon: an off-road EMT rig.
The suspension is raised using a Westcott Designs preload collar kit that’s compatible with the Sequoia’s air suspension, while 34-inch Falken Wildpeak A/T4W tires ensure the full-size three-row SUV is prepared to crawl over desert sand, rocks and unpaved dirt roads in an emergency. The third-row seats are gone, replaced by a slide-out cargo system with medical equipment, while the front cabin remains largely standard.
For emergencies only
“All of the fixtures for the interior and exterior lights were designed in CAD and 3D printed,” says technician Tanner Yost, who handled much of the construction. The reflective graphics, wiring and lighting are also designed and installed in-house, without any aftermarket sponsorship. Toyota simply chose the parts that met its needs.
Despite the upgrades, Donka says this emergency SUV looks “factory” from the driver’s seat. The center console is filled with various buttons, radios, and emergency doohickies: a Lamphus SoundAlert siren controller, a pad to control the LED emergency lights, and a Motorola public safety radio, just like you’d normally see in police cars and ambulances.
The Sequoia plays the role of emergency first responder at TAPG, where engineers push vehicles through high-speed loops, brutal driving and handling surfaces, and steep off-road obstacles. Accidents can and will happen. Not to mention the occasional venomous rattlesnake or pissy 40-pound javelin nearby that throws a wrench into time-sensitive testing schedules.
Toyota Tundras help too
The team staffs the facility 24/7, with four people per shift and an on-site heliport for serious emergencies. Most incidents are handled internally. State or provincial assistance is usually only needed for serious situations.
Toyota also uses a few last-generation Tundra pickups, which also wear an Ironman 3.5-inch lift kit, but with a much more specific use in mind. They require auxiliary springs on the rear suspension to support a 500-gallon water tank, as well as powerful water pumps, should the desert heat overwhelm a situation. “They’re basically little fire trucks,” Donka said. “We get a forest fire here every now and then.”
Most people will never see these emergency vehicles, which is a roundabout way to describe a good day of vehicle testing at TAPG. But just in case, Donka and his team stay close by to provide emergency assistance if anyone needs it. Luckily we got the chance to meet Donka without having to roll a car or upset the local rattlesnakes. Donka left us with this valuable advice for our day at their proving ground: “Watch out for those coyotes.”
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Austin Irwin worked for Car and driver for over 10 years in various roles. He has steadily worked his way up from a basic data entry position to driving vehicles for photography and video, and is now reviewing and testing cars. What will he do next? Who knows, but he better be quick.
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