Acting fire chief Pete Steenaerts said going green with an electric fire engine could be a significant leap forward in the City of Calgary’s green fleet strategy.
“This is not just a new fire truck. It’s leap forward in how we approach our mission protecting lives, protecting property and protecting the environment.”
The city will use the truck on a five-year trial. Steeraerts said the electric engine needs to prove itself before the city commits to buying one.
“We will carefully monitor and evaluate its success and challenges along the way. We will be tracking a number of performance metrics, gathering feedback from our crews and continuously assessing how this engine meets the operational needs of the modern fire service.”
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It’s the only Pierce Voterra fire engine currently in Canada. The company is currently testing three in the United States, including one in Arizona to see how it reacts in extreme heat, said Christopher Sapienza, vice-president of Canada’s Pierce Manufacturing.
“There is no compromising the performance of this vehicle.”
Sapienza said Calgary was offered a five-year trial to make sure it could also keep its charge in the city’s cold weather.
“We think we have got the proof of concept dialed in. We believe our thermal management system for the batteries is adequate to handle the extreme cold weather, but we need to prove it in real life.”
Calgary fire expects the fire engine, which is standard size for the department, will be operational by the end of the summer.
It’s home base will be District 7, Mount Pleasant. A charger is being installed there.
Sapienza said the charger will be capable of replacing up to 50 per cent of a charge within an hour. He said the truck is designed to handle up to 95 per cent of the regular duties it will be required to perform, without using the back up diesel.