View new Electric Rosenbauer Concept Fire Truck on Dec. 12 at Fire Station

The public is invited to a community open house at Menlo Park Fire Station 6 (700 Oak Grove Ave.) to view the Electric Rosenbauer Concept Fire Truck (CFT) on December 12, 2019, from 1:00 to 5:00 pm.

Fire Chief Harold Schapelhouman asks “why does an All-Electric Fire Engine make sense for a municipal Fire Agency like ours?” Some answers:

Typically, Fire Engines only travel short distances before returning to their home base, or Fire Station, so electric motors make perfect sense.

Most emergencies only last 30 minutes or less and this Engine can be shut down once it arrives at the incident, so an electric motor is very practical, efficient and environmentally responsible.

Over 90% of all emergencies are short duration incidents, like medical incidents, vehicle accidents, alarm soundings and other calls, so demand on the power supply and battery is minimal.

Diesel is currently used to power most Fire Engines, but it is a carcinogen which is bad for the health of the public, our first responders and our responsible stewardship of the air we all breath.

Electric vehicles have fewer moving parts which not only results in less wear and tear, but also maintenance, which often creates costly “down-time” that can compromise emergency readiness, response, reliability and overall public safety.

This electric vehicle will be equipped with a redundant battery system and small booster motor for longer duration responses and incidents like fire calls, where greater reliability for an essential and critical emergency response vehicle is needed.

“An all-electric Fire Engine is both environmentally and socially responsible because of the potential impacts on world-wide climate change and its associated challenges that we are directly dealing with here in California, like wild fires, sea rise and flooding,” said the Chief.

“Everyone trusts and respects firefighters, that’s why we are helping to not only lead the way when it comes to embracing such a revolutionary change in our first response capabilities, but also our environmental stewardship of the communities overall health and welfare, which is so critically important to the greater good of the communities we serve and protect!”

Photo courtesy of Menlo Fire