California town unveils first all-electric fire engine

A California town unveiled what is believed to be the world’s first electric-powered fire engine this week.

“Electric vehicles are not new — it’s only new to the fire service,” Menlo Park Fire Protection District Chief Harold Schapelhouman told a local CBS affiliate.

The truck, which is black and yellow instead of the traditional red, is made by Austrian company Rosenbauer. 

Questions have been raised about what happens if the truck runs out of power on the job – something that almost happened in Freemont, Calif., in September when a Tesla police car almost ran out of juice during a chase – but Schapelhouman brushed off concerns.

“I’m not concerned about that and I’ll tell you why: Because we, in the design phase, we’ll make sure that we don’t have a single point of failure,” Schapelhouman said.

While the truck will run on electricity, it can use diesel fuel to power its backup battery. With the backup battery the truck can reportedly run for roughly eight hours.

While the cost of the truck — $1.2 million — is comparable to regular fire engines, Schapelhouman said that the department would save money long-term since it wouldn’t have to buy fluids or filters for it.

The Menlo Park Fire District would need to put down a deposit of $200,000 to get one of the electric fire trucks, which it hopes to have in its fleet by end of 2021.