PIERCE ELECTRIC FIRE APPARATUS

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THANK YOU "Nasibova" for this video.

It was interesting to hear this fire chief of Madison, Wisc discuss his thoughts on the city's first ELECTRIC Fire Apparatus.
The design factor, it's operational needs, as well as putting it in one of the city's busier firehouses to test it out.

One thing that he did NOT mention was cost.
He DID mention the savings on fuel, BUT he did NOT mention the cost of the apparatus, and Especially the INITAL COST to set up that entire new charging system.
Also what is the cost of the electric bill for that particular firehouse.

ELECTRIC Fire Trucks could very well be worth while in the future.
But I think we need more PROOF in about a year or so, in order to find out how well things are going.

Two large cities now that I know of, Los Angelus, and Madison, are in the process of evaluating Electric Fire Apparatus.
One year from now, a full report would be welcomed.
 
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THANK YOU "Nasibova" for this video.

'' One thing that he did NOT mention was cost.
He DID mention the savings on fuel, BUT he did NOT mention the cost of the apparatus, and Especially the INITAL COST to set up that entire new charging system.
Also what is the cost of the electric bill for that particular firehouse.

ELECTRIC Fire Trucks could very well be worth while in the future.
But I think we need more PROOF in about a year or so, in order to find out how well things are going.
One year from now, a full report would be welcomed. ''
Right ? l almost wish in cases like this that the manufacturers would make one to specs for a few departments that would try it and just give it to them.
 

Bulldog

Bulldog
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Right ? l almost wish in cases like this that the manufacturers would make one to specs for a few departments that would try it and just give it to them.
I like your idea but, it's obvious that somebody would have to pay for them so guess who that somebody would be. It would either be the government which would take the money out of taxpayers or it would be other departments in the cost of conventional apparatus that they purchase. I think the departments that want to experiment with electric fire trucks should take the cost out of their budgets not somebody else's!
 
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I like your idea but, it's obvious that somebody would have to pay for them so guess who that somebody would be. It would either be the government which would take the money out of taxpayers or it would be other departments in the cost of conventional apparatus that they purchase. I think the departments that want to experiment with electric fire trucks should take the cost out of their budgets not somebody else's!
Oh, l agree with that also, but just saying, if they gonna force this anyway in a few years. Yes, all these greenies pushing this agenda should have to pay for the samples / prototypes ... l'm 100 % fine with staying all fossil fuels.
 
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As I understand it, Charlotte, N.C. is purchasing it's first electric firetruck, and they plan to build their first all electric fire station.

Let me Quote from "news.yahoo.com:
The future home of Station 30 is going to be electric and more than just looks.
The City of Charlotte's budget includes funding to build a new Station 30 in southwest Charlotte.

The newly constructed fire facility will be on Beam Rd and will be "all electric" complete with the city's first electric fire truck

The article continues and I tried to put the link on but it didn't work, which includes a video.
 
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Bulldog

Bulldog
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I'm surprised we haven't heard of an electric ladder truck yet. It seemed like they would be better suited to be electric that an engine because I don't need the horsepower to run a pump like an engine company does. They obviously need power to run the hydraulics but that's much lower demand and usage than an engine company!
 
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I saw on another site that Pierce has sold the third Volterra electric fire truck to the Gilbert, Arizona Fire Department.
 

Bulldog

Bulldog
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I saw on another site that Pierce has sold the third Volterra electric fire truck to the Gilbert, Arizona Fire Department.
Does anyone know who bought the 2nd one? Also does anyone have any information about how much they cost?
 
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You would think that electric fire vehicle manufacturers - there are only a few - would want to field test, discover problems, demonstrate advantages, determine maintenance policies, instill confidence and make improvements in a variety of climates, environments, department sizes, operations, etc. Why wouldn't they supply test apparatus to various departments which could train on and use these units safely as second pieces, or training-only environments to provide real world testing? Maybe because they don't have to.

I suspect rather than a technical, methodical and low risk introductory approach to the fire service, they are counting on already existing political pressure to be first, commit first, buy first, announce first. Electric vehicles and apparatus have futures to varying degrees in the fire service but safety, learning, continued development, and introduction due diligence are more important than headlines. Do it right.
That, as stated, and they are all competing with each other too get a footprint in the market. So they can all claim they are eco friendly.
 
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Talking with a friend who worked on the LAFD project the current cost is basically twice that of a conventional engine.
$700k engine = $1.4M engine. Plus approximately $250k to modify the station for the charging system.
 
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In the early 1900's, the universal and rapid conversion of horse drawn, steam fire apparatus to motor driven apparatus was accomplished quickly due to the reduced cost of fueling and maintaining motorized equipment over the cost of feeding and caring for horses. Not only were motor engines cheaper to operate but they had longer service lives over horses. A favorable return on investment made for public policy acceptance. What economic benefit is motivating municipalities to offer field testing and accepting risk for new concepts?
 
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i Gotta say that if you compare the Rosenbauer of the LAFD and the Pierce mentioned here...i think the pierce has the upper hand....first of i don't get when you are trying to sell one of the most traditional minded workforces around a new concept like electric trucks are the manufacturers go with something so foreign in appearences as Rosenbauer does....i think Pierce nails it with all the old functions, appearence tools etc....and Electric on top of that....it's gonna be cool to see what Seagrave and others go for....
 
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