The Calgary Fire Department (CFD) became the first city in Western Canada — and North America — to take delivery of of a specially designed pressure pumper aimed at testing the technology in cold weather climates.On Wednesday city officials announced a five-year agreement with Wisconsin-based Pierce Manufacturing Inc. to test one of its prototype Volterra units under ‘real world’ conditions, including sub-zero winter weatherOnly three other cities operate the Volterra: Portland, OR, Madison, WI, and Gilbert AZ. All of them have reported success integrating them into their existing fleets.But unlike other cities like Vancouver that have purchased various makes and models outright, Calgary will maintain and operate the truck under a lease agreement without any upfront financial commitment or cost to taxpayers.Company representatives said costs for the units themselves, if the city eventually decides to buy them, would be comparable to a typical diesel truck. Data gained from the pilot — and any technical “challenges” — will be used to make improvements to future models and inform future procurement decisions.“This addition to the Calgary Fire Department not only enhances our emergency response capabilities, it also demonstrates our dedication to building a sustainable future for our community,” Mayor Jyoti Gondek said..Under the agreement the city will install dedicated charging equipment at the Mount Pleasant station — but it will be able to hook up to any commercially available charger — and crews will receive special training on how to use it.The actual operation is straightforward compared to a regular fire truck; indeed, there are no outward signs that it is anything but a regular fire truck apart from switching back and forth to diesel back up for both the pumping and driving systems.Rather, the main component of the ‘training’ will be teaching CFD mechanics on how to maintain and repair the electrical components, including complete teardown and overhaul.But having the option of switching to diesel ensures a level of reliability without compromising public safety, said Acting Fire Chief Pete Steenaerts. For the types of calls generally experienced at the Mount Pleasant station he estimated it would comfortably operate in electric mode more than 95% of the time."(It) gives us confidence in the reliability and performance of this technology. We look forward to evaluating the performance of the engine and providing feedback that could make future versions even better.".Assuming the city eventually does decide to move ahead with procurement, Steenaerts said it would be done in phases over a prolonged period.“As far as the the progression and kind of the plans for expansion within our fleet, I think within the five year trial period where we're going to be working with peers, we'll be continually evaluating as we go forward with our business plans for lifecycle of apparatus to replace apparatus when it was at its retirement date,” he said. “We'll be making that determination at that time based on the performance that we've seen, whether we want to start replacing some of our existing apparatus with electric apparatus and augmenting the fleet at that time.”
The Calgary Fire Department (CFD) became the first city in Western Canada — and North America — to take delivery of of a specially designed pressure pumper aimed at testing the technology in cold weather climates.On Wednesday city officials announced a five-year agreement with Wisconsin-based Pierce Manufacturing Inc. to test one of its prototype Volterra units under ‘real world’ conditions, including sub-zero winter weatherOnly three other cities operate the Volterra: Portland, OR, Madison, WI, and Gilbert AZ. All of them have reported success integrating them into their existing fleets.But unlike other cities like Vancouver that have purchased various makes and models outright, Calgary will maintain and operate the truck under a lease agreement without any upfront financial commitment or cost to taxpayers.Company representatives said costs for the units themselves, if the city eventually decides to buy them, would be comparable to a typical diesel truck. Data gained from the pilot — and any technical “challenges” — will be used to make improvements to future models and inform future procurement decisions.“This addition to the Calgary Fire Department not only enhances our emergency response capabilities, it also demonstrates our dedication to building a sustainable future for our community,” Mayor Jyoti Gondek said..Under the agreement the city will install dedicated charging equipment at the Mount Pleasant station — but it will be able to hook up to any commercially available charger — and crews will receive special training on how to use it.The actual operation is straightforward compared to a regular fire truck; indeed, there are no outward signs that it is anything but a regular fire truck apart from switching back and forth to diesel back up for both the pumping and driving systems.Rather, the main component of the ‘training’ will be teaching CFD mechanics on how to maintain and repair the electrical components, including complete teardown and overhaul.But having the option of switching to diesel ensures a level of reliability without compromising public safety, said Acting Fire Chief Pete Steenaerts. For the types of calls generally experienced at the Mount Pleasant station he estimated it would comfortably operate in electric mode more than 95% of the time."(It) gives us confidence in the reliability and performance of this technology. We look forward to evaluating the performance of the engine and providing feedback that could make future versions even better.".Assuming the city eventually does decide to move ahead with procurement, Steenaerts said it would be done in phases over a prolonged period.“As far as the the progression and kind of the plans for expansion within our fleet, I think within the five year trial period where we're going to be working with peers, we'll be continually evaluating as we go forward with our business plans for lifecycle of apparatus to replace apparatus when it was at its retirement date,” he said. “We'll be making that determination at that time based on the performance that we've seen, whether we want to start replacing some of our existing apparatus with electric apparatus and augmenting the fleet at that time.”
