Scottish Fire and Rescue Service commissions electric fire engine

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The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) has commissioned its first electric powered fire engine after receiving around £500,000 of funding from Transport Scotland to roll the prototype into production.

The SFRS commissioned the E1 EVO from Emergency One in Ayreshire. The design and manufacturing of the appliance will fully comply with British Standards for firefighting and rescue service vehicles.

The prototype is due to be delivered to the SFRS later this year and is expected to go on the run with a crew early 2023.

It will have the same capability and equipment as a diesel model and it will be able to assist at emergencies with a range of approximately 220 miles from an 80% charge, and a range extender for pumping water at a prolonged incident as well as ensuring it can return to the fire station.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s Deputy Assistant Chief Officer Stewart Nicholson said: “We are excited to commission our first electric powered appliance with support from Transport Scotland.

“This innovative project is the first step in a long journey to discover how we can potentially move away from fossil fuel powered appliances.

“The Service has set out its environmental goals and we are committed to reducing carbon emissions from our fleet.

“There are already more than 100 electric cars within our light fleet, however this is our first venture into low carbon heavy duty vehicles.”

Minister for Transport, Jenny Gilruth called the move ‘a really exciting, innovative development’: “I’m pleased to be funding it through our partnership with Scottish Enterprise which is supporting the decarbonisation of Heavy Duty Vehicles across Scotland.

“The public sector should be seen to lead the way on this type of work, which demonstrates that tough operational requirements for service vehicles, often working in challenging conditions, can indeed be met without the sole reliance of fossil fuels.

“I look forward to seeing the electric fire appliance deployed in communities as a beacon not only for the journey that the fire service is on – but for Scotland’s wider transition to a net zero society.”

The host station is still to be confirmed. Suitable locations for housing the charging infrastructure for the electric appliance are being scoped out.

Michael Madsen, Managing Director of Emergency One, said: “We are proud that the Emergency One E1 EV0™ (Electric Vehicle, Zero Emissions) is the world’s first all-electric pumping appliance fully certified to BS EN1846 standard.

“The EV0 exceeds the standard’s requirements for driving range and pumping performance at zero emissions, whilst the optional onboard smart charger provides resilience at protracted incidents.

“The EV0 as specified for SFRS carries the same inventory as a traditional pumping appliance, is one of the first of its kind in the UK, and the first to feature an innovative all-electric rear drive axle installation.

“Some of our staff who also work locally as retained firefighters have been able to work on this project and it’s great to get their practical operational insights throughout the design process.”

SFRS has pledged to reduce its carbon footprint by six percent each year until 2030. This project is part of the long-term goal to be carbon neutral by 2045. It is estimated that an electric appliance will reduce emissions by 66% compared with a diesel appliance.

Head of low carbon transition at Scottish Enterprise Andy McDonald added: “Scottish Enterprise has worked with Transport Scotland and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service over a number of years through our Can Do innovation approach supporting collaboration with industry through the procurement process. It is fantastic to see the project come to fruition and the fire service begin the journey towards the development and deployment of its first electric fire appliance.

“Emergency One is manufacturing this in Scotland and Scottish Enterprise has also supported this innovative company to develop its world leading technology. Our vision is to help more public sector fleet owners to develop similar approaches as the decarbonisation of heavy duty vehicles is a key area of focus for Scottish Enterprise as we work to deliver a net zero economy.”

Golden State Fire Apparatus to open second service centre

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 Pierce Manufacturing Inc., an Oshkosh Corporation company, has announced authorised dealer Golden State Fire Apparatus, Inc. will open its second service center, a new 45,000-square-foot facility in Tracy, California, to serve customers in central California, particularly the Bay Area.

The project is currently in the design stage with construction expected to be completed in the next 18 to 24 months. It will also serve as Golden State Fire Apparatus’ service hub for the revolutionary Pierce Volterra platform of electric vehicles.

“Opening a service centre in Tracy will increase capacity to our customers and will reduce their travel time for service by at least 50 percent,” said Ryan Wright, President of Golden State Fire Apparatus. “This will decrease turnaround time, getting the apparatus back into service faster, benefiting the communities our customers serve.”

The Tracy, California service centre will be equipped to provide Emergency Vehicle Technician (EVT) certified repairs and servicing on the electric vehicles as their use increases.

Primary benefits of the new Golden State Fire Apparatus service center in Tracy, CA include:

  • 30 additional service bays
  • Increased parts availability
  • Increased service team capacity
  • Fast turnaround for repairs and maintenance
  • Pierce Volterra electric fire apparatus support

Forecasting customers’ needs in the years ahead led the Golden State Fire Apparatus team to select Tracy, California as the location to best serve the company’s southern territory.

“We believe a good process allows us to pivot quickly as we’ve strived to ensure our team has a productive and safe environment to work while maintaining the level of service our customers have come to rely on,” Wright added. “The expansion will allow us to continue improving our support with the ultimate goal of reaching new customers and completing repairs quicker.”

Rosenbauer America appoints Kreikemeier as Chairman and CEO

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Rob Kreikemeier has appointed to the position of Chairman and CEO of Rosenbauer America, effective immediately. He succeeds John Slawson who has now left the company.

Kreikemeier has worked in the fire industry for decades, with over 50 years of manufacturing and operations experience, including founding R.K. Aerials in 1988, and later joining Rosenbauer in 2000.

The appointment is based on his extensive experience in operations execution, manufacturing, and consistent leadership which will help position Rosenbauer America for continued growth.

Dawn Osborn will be appointed as CEO/President of Rosenbauer Aerials. Mark Fusco, VP of Sales, and Marketing has been added to the Rosenbauer America management board.

The Rosenbauer America Management Board is now made up of:

  • Brian Kueter, CPA Chief Financial Officer
  • Randy Brummel, GM/VP Motors & Supply Chain
  • Scott Oyen, CEO/President of Rosenbauer South Dakota
  • Dawn Osborn, CEO/President of Rosenbauer Aerials
  • Thomas Ruschitzka, Senior VP, North & Middle America, Rosenbauer International
  • Mark Fusco, VP of Sales & Marketing

Magirus completes delivery of 17 fire engines to Austria’s Provincial Fire Brigade

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During the Florianifeier festivity on 4 May 2022, the Provincial Fire Brigade Association of Lower Austria received 17 new Magirus tank pumpers for wildfire applications

The handover was completed in the presence of Provincial Fire Brigade Commander Dietmar Fahrafellner, Diocesan Bishop Dr. Alois Schwarz, Federal Minister Karoline Edtstadler and Deputy Provincial Governor Dr Stephan Pernkopf,

“Climate change is increasingly bringing new demands to the fire service. Vegetation fires are increasing in severity and number and are placing particularly higher demands for the population, for the fire brigades and their equipment. Often, the areas of operation are difficult to access, water sources are not available or hardly accessible and the permanent unpredictability of the fires poses an additional danger”, explains Josef Huber, the Provincial Technology councillor for the Lower Austrian fire brigade association.

The new vehicle concept for the “Forest Firefighting Vehicle”, HLF2-WB, is based on the current existing recommendations for forest firefighting vehicles – coupled with the requirements of the HLF2 according to the construction guidelines of the Lower Austrian Fire Brigade Association, in order to achieve the highest possible benefit and operational utility in everyday use. The main differences to the standard HLF2: all-terrain chassis, extensive equipment which is specially designed for forest fighting and vegetation fires, midship-pump configuration in conjunction with a self-protection extinguishing system, additional heat-protection for aggregates, a cabin with roll-over protection as well as a modular designed interior to increase multiple use of the vehicle.

The ” fast attach vehicle” VFA is built on a Ford Ranger with an innovative exchangeable modular structure. In the basic configuration, a vegetation firefighting module is equipped with tank, centrifugal pump and engine-unit and forest firefighting equipment. The simple module change, the storage possibility and respectively the flexible worktable is realized with a multi-adjustable, mobile work/logistics module. Besides to the forest firefighting module, one of the vehicles is equipped with a commander-module.

The HLF2-WB are equipped with a Treibmatic winch and the VFA are equipped with an electric winch.

With these vehicles, in addition to the forest fire QUAD’s already in service, the Provincial Fire Brigade Association has now a complete and consistent forest firefighting unit, which has already been used in the firefighting operation in Hirschwang an der Rax (district of Neunkirchen). On this occasion, the vehicles have already passed a successful baptism of fire.

“It’s a special honour that the vehicle concept literally met the requirements even before the official ceremonial handover. Now, we can book a follow-up order for additional 8 HLF2-WB and 8 VFA vehicles”, states Christian Reisl, Managing Director of Magirus Lohr GmbH.