Everett Eaton
The Virginian-Pilot
(TNS)

A new electric fire truck, developed by the fire service vehicle maker Rosenbauer, made a run through Hampton Roads recently. It stopped at Volvo Penta in Chesapeake, which had built the battery components. It was then on display during the Virginia Fire Rescue Conference at the Virginia Beach Conference Center last weekend.

The truck — called an RTX, for “Revolutionary Truck” — is almost silent, but that doesn’t mean its sirens won’t let cars know to watch out when it’s time to stop a fire.

The truck is one of the first to debut in the United States. A Los Angeles fire station began using one in 2022. Rosenbauer started with a concept vehicle in 2012 and later partnered with Volvo Penta.

The motor, lighting and equipment are powered by Volvo Penta batteries. Running on batteries makes the vehicle quieter, helps fight noise pollution and makes it easier for firefighters to communicate.

Electric-powered vehicles do not release carbon emissions, which helps the air quality in the vicinity of the truck. The truck is also made of metals and plastics that are more easily recyclable than traditional vehicle plastics. The truck has a battery life extension system run by a diesel motor. When the battery’s charge drops to 20% the system kicks in and charges the battery to provide about another six hours of battery life.

While parked, the truck sits about 7 inches off the ground. An air suspension system can raise the truck to a clearance of 10 inches for paved roads and to 14 inches for locations where the truck would need to go off-road; the system can raise it to a maximum clearance of 19 inches for flooded areas.

“You can never fully prepare for floods, but when they do happen, firefighters still need to get to areas to help people,” said Todd McBride, sales and marketing manager with Rosenbauer America.

Many of the operations on the vehicle, like the opening of its water tanks, can be monitored and controlled with tablets, one of which has a range of about 300 feet outside the truck.

The truck will make its way to Baltimore and Canada for more demonstrations. Other trucks have already been delivered to major cities around the world, including Berlin, Amsterdam and Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

“We have also been getting a lot of interest in these trucks here in North America,” McBride said. “Sometimes the firemen are a little hesitant, but after they take it for a spin they always leave with a smile on their faces.”

No plans have been made for a local fire department to purchase one of the trucks.

Everett Eaton, 262-902-7896, everett.eaton@virginiamedia.com

©2023 The Virginian-Pilot. Visit pilotonline.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

The Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation donated more than $37,000 to the Quincy Fire Department for lifesaving equipment, wtxl.com reported.

The department used the grant money to buy a new cutter, spreader and ram, the report said. QFD now has a third set of extrication equipment to help them get people stuck in a car out quickly and safely.

The new equipment is battery-operated, making it faster and more efficient in a life-or-death situation, the report said.

That new equipment is now ready to use and will be housed at Fire Station 2 in Quincy.

The following news release was issued by Moose Boats in February 2023:

Moose Boats, LLC, a boat designer and manufacturer in the San Francisco Bay Area, was awarded a contract from the Woodbridge Fire District for the construction of a M3-36 Monohull to serve as a fire boat in the San Joaquin Delta.

The San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors awarded the Woodbridge Fire District funding for a new fire boat. The awarded funds are from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which a large portion of ARPA funds are intended for public safety.

Moose Boats was selected as the builder of choice by the Woodbridge FD. The fire district has ordered a M3 Moose Monohull fire boat with twin 300 hp Mercury outboards and a dedicated fire pump to flow through two monitors at approximately 1,500 gpm. This vessel is also equipped with dive platform doors to help facilitate water rescue operations upon the delta waters.

The Woodbridge Fire District is an all risk agency covering 197 square miles and approximately 500 linear miles of the San Joaquin Delta with four fire stations. Jurisdictional responsibilities include the San Joaquin River and many of the sloughs and marinas between Stockton and Terminous. The new fire boat will be berthed at Tower Park Marina, “where our current boat is,” according to Fire Chief Darin Downey.

For more information about the Woodbridge Fire District, please visit woodbridgefire.org.

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The city of Newnan held a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday for the new fire training facility at 473 Greison Trail, the department said in a news release.

Fire Chief Stephen Brown remarked, “We appreciate the support of the City Council and the citizens through SPLOST as we take this important step in upgrading our department’s training facility. Our new facility will include a four-story burn building, training tower, classroom, driving course, and drafting pit. It will ensure we are able to continue upholding the highest standards of training as we serve our community.”

Voters initially approved allocating $1.75 million for an upgraded fire training facility, times-herald.com reported. In May 2022, Newnan City Council members approved increasing the budget for the project to $3.8 million, the report said.

The Blanche and Taft communities will be getting a new fire station thanks, in part, to the Lincoln County school board donating one and a half acres of the Blanche School property for its new location, elkvalleytimes.com reported.

Preliminary figures of $200,000 would build the fire station with four bays and between two and four sleeping rooms, a fire official said, according to the report.

The new facility will be located on the southeast corner of Highway 110 and Luther Road.

The Blanche Volunteer Fire Station has a pumper truck and a small rescue truck, which houses medical supplies and extraction equipment, the report said.

The Blanche Fire Department began with a 1977 Ford truck donated by Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in June of 1977, according to the department’s website. It was housed in a county-owned building. Since that time, the county has added a new metal building for a substation in Taft.