BOISE, Idaho — Boise Fire hosted a demonstration of an all-electric fire engine Friday as the city mulls whether to add such an apparatus to their fleet.
The engine, created by Rosenbauer America, is currently only available in Europe, although the company is working on a North American model, according to Boise Fire Chief Dennis Doan.
The green-white-and-black truck was on hand for a demonstration at the Boise Fire Training Center.
"We brought this in to look at it, we're going to bring the mayor and council in to evaluate it and see if it's something we want to purchase," Doan said.
If the city approves, the department would purchase one electric fire engine, with the possibility of replacing the entire Boise Fire fleet in the future, the chief said.
Doan said the greener engines are in line with Boise's goals of reaching greater sustainability. City leaders aim to make the City of Trees a 100 percent renewable energy community by the year 2040.
"This is really important to the City of Boise as we work on sustainability to look for options to get away from diesel motors," Doan said. It's difficult on the environment, but also, it's hazardous to our firefighters because they breathe in the soot that goes into the fire stations, and that's a cancer-causing agent. So, this new engine is environmentally-sustainable and also safe for firefighters."
