The Future of Fire Trucks

General conversations about BMW E28s and the people who own them.
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vinceg101
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Joined: Jun 20, 2007 2:40 AM
Location: Los Angeles, CA

The Future of Fire Trucks

Post by vinceg101 »

Interesting developments in Fire Trucks, mostly coming from Europe.
Electric/Diesel platform based on a Volvo Hybrid chassis. Evidently these have started rolling out in selected US cities and the one in this video was made for the Los Angeles City FD.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AafguE0KZk
https://www.rosenbaueramerica.com/rosen ... echnology/
1st 5er
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Re: The Future of Fire Trucks

Post by 1st 5er »

Interesting, indeed.
stuartinmn
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Re: The Future of Fire Trucks

Post by stuartinmn »

It has a 6 cylinder BMW engine...that sounds familiar. :)
I assume the electrics are used for driving to the fire and the BMW engine runs the pumps when it gets there. If nothing else I'd appreciate that; I live in the inner city, and it seems like the Minneapolis fire department doesn't use mufflers on their trucks. If one goes by my house in the middle of the night, it sounds like there's a monster truck jam going on.
vinceg101
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Re: The Future of Fire Trucks

Post by vinceg101 »

I know what you mean, our street is a minor E/W artery and the only direct route from two major N/S arteries. They roll down out street constantly, both for calls and for lunch/dinner at the restaurant at the end of my street.
California has this weird setup since all EMT services are run and staffed by the FD's, when an ambulance/EMT van rolls out for a call, then send the whole firehouse out with it. So even if someone cuts their thumb carving the Thanksgiving turkey, on top of the ambulance and EMT's, you get the engine and sometimes even the trucks showing up on your doorstep. So if they could spare us the diesel exhaust and noise while they sit there and idle waiting for the EMT's to get done, all the better. These short duration, short distance calls in the city are ideal for an electric vehicle; especially the Swiss-Army knife style these things are.

I read a study saying that structure fires are becoming less and less what fire departments deal with (at least here in CA) and that 80-90% of all calls are EMT related. This was changing their outlook on CA's traditional FD/ & EMT structure and they were seriously considering manning more and more of the firehouses with strictly EMT vans/SUV's and ambulances vs. engines and trucks (at least in the urban cities). I could see a vehicle like this, or a counterpart that was more medically oriented, filling this role quite efficiently.
vinceg101
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Location: Los Angeles, CA

Re: The Future of Fire Trucks

Post by vinceg101 »

stuartinmn wrote: May 15, 2022 3:26 PM It has a 6 cylinder BMW engine...that sounds familiar. :)
I assume the electrics are used for driving to the fire and the BMW engine runs the pumps when it gets there. If nothing else I'd appreciate that; I live in the inner city, and it seems like the Minneapolis fire department doesn't use mufflers on their trucks. If one goes by my house in the middle of the night, it sounds like there's a monster truck jam going on.
Actually the pumps are first run off the batteries, when they reach 20% remaining, the diesel kicks in to recharge and/or run the pumps directly. The concept is to be as efficient and quite as possible on-site for as long as possible. Since in most cases, most calls are usually short duration, the batteries handle most of the demand. If and when they get onto a multi-alarm, wildfire, or other major event, LAFD (as I am sure most FD's) have diesel tenders and refuelers refilling all the vehicles as needed.

Supposedly the small town of Wyoming, MN just to the north of you has one, so if you're lucky and you happen to be driving through you might catch a glimpse of it.
https://www.startribune.com/wyoming-min ... 600052053/
Last edited by vinceg101 on May 16, 2022 3:04 AM, edited 1 time in total.
stuartinmn
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Re: The Future of Fire Trucks

Post by stuartinmn »

I don't think the Wyoming FD has one in use, but Rosenbauer America has a manufacturing plant there. It's where they build custom configured fire trucks, so it makes sense the hybrid trucks would come out of that factory.
stuartinmn
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Re: The Future of Fire Trucks

Post by stuartinmn »

vinceg101 wrote: May 15, 2022 7:12 PM I know what you mean, our street is a minor E/W artery and the only direct route from two major N/S arteries. They roll down out street constantly, both for calls and for lunch/dinner at the restaurant at the end of my street.
The local fire station is two blocks from my house. It's a good thing if I ever have a fire, but I get to hear them leave the station on every call.
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