Following 18-months of successful in-service use, the City of Madison Fire Department solidifies its commitment in Pierce’s electric vehicle technology with a purchase order for a Pierce Volterra electric pumper. 

APPLETON, Wis. (February 20, 2023) – Pierce Manufacturing Inc., an Oshkosh Corporation (NYSE:OSK) company, announced it has secured a purchase order from the City of Madison Fire Department in Wisconsin for a Pierce® Volterra™ electric pumper. The purchase order agreement follows an 18-month placement of a Pierce Volterra pumper at the department’s busiest station, Station No. 8, making it the first electric fire truck in service in North America. The City of Madison Fire Department was one of three fire departments across the United States to collaborate and provide daily operational data to assist with the final development, evaluation, and on-highway certification processes. The department’s thorough vetting, testing and operational use over the last 18-months resulted in the City of Madison solidifying its commitment in Pierce’s proven electric vehicle technology.

“We were honored to be a part of the testing process for the Pierce Volterra electric pumper and worked closely with Pierce representatives to ensure we were equipped with a highly capable fire apparatus to tackle our daily missions,” said Scott Bavery, assistant fire chief of the City of Madison Fire Department. “Our positive experience with this electric fire truck and the support team, along with our community’s dedication to meeting environmental sustainability goals, were all factors in our decision to purchase a Pierce Volterra apparatus and make it a prominent addition to our fleet.” 

City of Madison Fire Department’s Pierce Volterra Electric Vehicle Configuration Includes:

• Pierce Enforcer™ custom chassis with seating for 6
• TAK-4® Independent Front Suspension
• 246 kWh battery solution with standard 6-year warranty
• Consolidated, safety focused, high voltage integration 
• Industry leading underbody ground clearance
• Compartmentation: Full height, full depth, formed aluminum construction with over 155 cu. ft. of storage, uninterrupted by high voltage battery integration
• 1,500 GPM single stage pump 
• 500-gallon water tank
• Intuitive Command Zone™ purpose-built electrical control system 
• CZ Connect™ Telematics for remote access and service support

Pierce Volterra Electric Vehicle Operation:

• Traditional control for simplified and standardized apparatus operation
• Oshkosh patented parallel-electric drivetrain featuring an electro-mechanical infinitely variable transmission 
• Zero-emissions pumping and driving in EV mode, with the ability to provide continuous and uninterrupted power to the pumping system or drive system through the backup internal combustion engine
• Exceptional operational range tailored to the fire department’s needs and duty cycle for full-shift operation
• Fire station-based, all-encompassing vehicle charging infrastructure offers a thorough, simple, and fast charging solution through Madison Gas and Electric 

City of Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway, and Fleet Superintendent Mahanth Joishy, both took part in the introduction of the Pierce Volterra electric fire truck in Madison in June 2021, sharing their agenda and municipal plan to drive environmental change.  

Joishy stated, “Since 2018, the city went from zero to 94 electric vehicles, added 160 hybrid vehicles, and the Pierce Volterra pumper represents the first electric fire truck to support our fire department’s brave first responders. Fire trucks are amon

Cambridge City Council learned a hard lesson about the recent effects inflation and supply chain concerns have had on the economy as part of its meeting held Monday, Feb. 6, hometownsource.com reported.

Roughly a year ago, council approved the purchase of the chassis for a replacement fire engine that was submitted to Boyer Trucks in Superior (WI) April 25, 2022. There was no word from that company until November, when it said the wire and engine configurations had changed, the report said.

Those changes increased the price from $133,965 to $145,884 for an increase of $11,019, the report said.

A fire official said that the purchase is strictly for the cab and chassis of a new vehicle, and that the bill for this purchase is not expected to come due until late this year, according to the report.

Council unanimously approved a motion to approve the changes in the configurations as well as the purchase of the updated vehicle, the report said.

Council also unanimously approved the purchase of a Chevrolet Tahoe to replace the fire department’s 2012 Tahoe at a cost of $50,793.79, the report said.

Calloway County (KY) Fire-Rescue issued this press release on Facebook Sunday:

On 2/18/2023, at approximately 6 p.m., Calloway County Fire-Rescue was dispatched to the Dexter community for the report of a 10-acre field fire. First arriving units found the large field fire to be an unreported controlled burn. On scene command immediately cancelled all other responding units.

Shortly thereafter, one of our responding tankers was involved in a rollover accident near the intersection of KY-80 East and Green Valley Road (KY-1346). Fortunately, our engineer, alone in the vehicle, was uninjured in the accident and was released from the ER late last evening. No other vehicles were involved in the incident.

We’d like to take this opportunity to remind all citizens that if you do plan to have a controlled burn to please notify the Calloway County, KY 911 Communications Center at 270-753-3151 prior to starting your fire. While we understand there is no county ordinance or law that says you have to, it does help prevent unnecessary fire department responses and could have possibly prevented this vehicle accident.

If you have any questions, please contact our headquarters during normal business hours at 270-753-4112.

By Alan M. Petrillo

Rescues in swift water are fraught with challenges for firefighters when compared to flooding situations where the water is static or slow moving. In both instances, firefighters use technical equipment and special techniques to effect a water rescue safely and bring victims to solid ground.

Mike Cranston, lifeguard sergeant with the River Rescue Team at the San Diego (CA) Fire-Rescue Department, points out that his agency’s swift water rescue team is unique in that all of its members are also lifeguards. “Other teams try to keep their staff out of the water, but we want to get in the water,” Cranston says. “We deal with a lot of urban flooding situations, extricating people from flooded cars, often in swift water situations.”

Cranston notes that when it rains, the Tijuana River valley floods, including its tunnels that immigrants use to cross the southern U.S. border. “We can have groups of people spread out over distances who need to be rescued but don’t want to be identified by the authorities,” he says. “Another area where we do flood rescue and swift water rescue is the San Diego River, where there a lot of homeless camps around it.”

The San Diego swift water rescue team usually fields two lifeguards in rescue boats and often uses an inflatable rescue raft with no transom that is either towed or paddled to a victim, Cranston says. “For a swift water response, we have s strike team of three persons in pickup trucks, each outfitted with an inflatable boat, ropes, and the hardware for our technical rescue systems,” he points out. “The three swift water rescue squads are stationed around the city and are supported by San Diego firefighters for manpower assistance with the rescue systems, as well as the San Diego police, who usually are the ones locating the victims for us.”

Mike Arras, deputy chief at the St. Louis (MO) Fire Department, says his department has several Zodiac RIBs (rigid-hull inflatable boats) that are used for flooding situations and swift water rescues. Two of the Zodiacs are assigned to the department’s rescue squad, while others are assigned to the three companies that make up the department’s Marine Task Force. “Our marine companies man our fireboats and rescue boats and are trained in swift water rescue too,” Arras observes.

• Water Rescue Equipment for Swift Water, Flooding, and Boating Incidents
• Swift Water Rescue Requires Specific Equipment Cache
• Are You Ready for Highwater/Swift Water Season?
• Equipping Fire and Rescue Boats for Service

 

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