- Title: Fire truck goes electric to fight fire and pollution
- Date: 17th December 2019
- Summary: MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (DECEMBER 12, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF CONCEPT FIRE TRUCK (CFT) OUTSIDE MENLO PARK FIRE STATION MENLO PARK FIRE DISTRICT SIGN PEOPLE AND ROBOT BY THE CFT VARIOUS OF ROBOT MOVING PEOPLE GOING INTO FIRE TRUCK / CEO OF ROSENBAUER AMERICA, JOHN SLAWSON TALKING TO JOURNALIST (SOUNDBITE) (English) CEO OF ROSENBAUER AMERICA, JOHN SLAWSON, SAYING: "This vehicle started from the ground up and we created a vision to be able to have the world's first fire truck with zero emissions and electric power so we started this project six years ago." VARIOUS OF ELECTRIC SOCKETS, PORTS AND SWITCHES ON THE CFT CAMERA MOTHER AND SON LOOKING AT THE CFT INTERIOR OF SIDE OF CFT MOTHER TAKING PHOTO OF SON BY CFT BOY LOOKING AT PHOTO SLAWSON TALKING TO ROSENBAUER INTERNATIONAL'S HEAD OF SPECIAL PROJECTS, STEVE JOHN MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (DECEMBER 11, 2019) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) ROSENBAUER INTERNATIONAL'S HEAD OF SPECIAL PROJECTS, STEVE JOHN, SAYING: "And we started to make, let's say, the wish list, if you would, like the Christmas list - we're almost at Christmas so the Christmas list so I wish… If we could have a clean slate, we would like to have this, we would like to have that as a solution to the problems of the future, whether it's urbanization, traffic congestion, gender shifting, demographic changes, social changes, connectivity of things, so we looked at all these aspects and said 'How does this affect the fire brigades of the future?' and we came up with a white piece of paper and started drawing and what's behind me is the result of about four years of research and three years of manufacturing." VARIOUS OF CFT DEMONSTRATING ITS LIGHTS FLASHING BLUE LIGHT VARIOUS OF MAN GOING THROUGH SIDE PANELS OF TRUCK VARIOUS OF JOHN SHOWING JOURNALISTS THE INSIDE OF THE SIDE PANELS INSIDE OF SIDE PANELS (SOUNDBITE) (English) ROSENBAUER INTERNATIONAL'S HEAD OF SPECIAL PROJECTS, STEVE JOHN, SAYING: "Manufacturers, bodybuilders have always just adapted and put cupboards and a water tank and a pump and some have done it better than others but it's always been a Band-Aid solution for the fire brigades. This, behind me, is the only and the first truck in the world, which is designed from zero, from scratch for the fire brigades, as a fire truck or a rescue unit or a commander or a quint or a type-1 or a type-3 forest fire. It's the only time it's from scratch, zero and then, of course, we can implement and have a long Christmas list." VARIOUS OF MENLO PARK FIRE CHIEF, HAROLD SCHAPELHOUMAN (SOUNDBITE) (English) MENLO PARK FIRE CHIEF, HAROLD SCHAPELHOUMAN, SAYING: "Well you know, we make a lot of short trips in the fire service so we think an electric motor could be more efficient. Diesel's a carcinogen so these days, we're always worried about anything that causes cancer, health and safety for our employees, the health, relative health of the community because you've got to leave some of these apparatus up and running at calls so we see it as a more efficient means of transportation as well, simply because there's less moving parts on this kind of drive train compared to a combustion motor." OPENING OF SIDE PANEL PANEL INSIDE ALERT SIGN ON PANEL MAN WITH BOY LOOKING AT TRUCK (SOUNDBITE) (English) MENLO PARK FIRE CHIEF, HAROLD SCHAPELHOUMAN, SAYING: "It's got to work. We deal with tools here, not toys, so at the end of the day with the fire service, it's got to be durable, it's got to be able to be in service, it's got to fit within the environment that we work in every day which is…. You know, these rigs are on the road 24-7, 365. It's got to work." MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (DECEMBER 12, 2019) (REUTERS) CFT HISTORIC FIRE TRUCK HISTORIC FIRE TRUCK BEHIND CFT VARIOUS OF THE CONCEPT FIRE TRUCK
- Embargoed: 31st December 2019 11:02
- Keywords: California Electric concept fire truck Rosenbauer International fire engine fire truck
- Location: MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
- City: MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Pollution,Environment
- Reuters ID: LVA001BAD54RF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A new electric-powered concept fire truck, called the CFT, has been unveiled in California, with hopes that it will replace traditional diesel fire engines.
It's Austrian developers, Rosenbauer International, said creating a fire truck from scratch allowed them to incorporate a wish list of features.
"If we could have a clean slate, we would like to have this, we would like to have that as a solution to the problems of the future, whether it's urbanization, traffic congestion, gender shifting, demographic changes, social changes, connectivity of things, so we looked at all these aspects and said 'How does this affect the fire brigades of the future?' and we came up with a white piece of paper and started drawing and what's behind me is the result of about four years of research and three years of manufacturing," Steve John, the head of special projects at Rosenbauer, told Reuters at an unveiling of the concept vehicle in California.
The CFT has two electric motors, 350 kW battery storage and a diesel range extender.
The vehicle comes as governments around the world are trying to phase out diesel vehicles and replace them with electric units in response to environmental laws.
The concept vehicle is already undergoing assessment with fire brigades in Berlin and Amsterdam, which will introduce a ban on trucks, buses and taxis with combustion engines from entering the municipal area from 2025 and combustion-engined cars 5 years later.
Harold Schapelhouman, the Menlo Park fire chief, said he could see the advantages of the fire truck, saying "we make a lot of short trips in the fire service so we think an electric motor could be more efficient. Diesel's a carcinogen so these days, we're always worried about anything that causes cancer, health and safety for our employees, the health, relative health of the community because you've got to leave some of these apparatus up and running at calls so we see it as a more efficient means of transportation as well, simply because there's less moving parts on this kind of drive train compared to a combustion motor."
Schapelhouman sent a mechanic to Rosenbauer to offer suggestions about the build of the fire truck, hoping to streamline the vehicle so it needed less maintenance.
His plan for the vehicle is to ease it into their firefighting as a rescue vehicle to try out its capabilities, when it becomes available in late 2021/early 2022.
"It's got to work. We deal with tools here, not toys," said Schapelhouman. He added "At the end of the day with the fire service, it's got to be durable, it's got to be able to be in service, it's got to fit within the environment that we work in every day."
The truck has a ground clearance of 250 mm but can lower itself 100 mm to make access easier or raise it by as much as 480 mm for driving though flooding or over rough ground.
The concept includes a remote controlled crawler, or robot, that can carry up to 750kg of equipment or a remote water turret.
All wheel steering allows the vehicle to be manoeuvred sideways in cramps locations, the company says.
Rosenbauer estimates that the global demand for vehicles with technology similar to the CFT will rise to around 3,200 by 2030; between 700 and 800 such vehicles could already be in service in Europe by 2025.
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