PRESS RELEASE
In the fall of 2021, Portland Fire & Rescue entered a Joint Development Agreement with Pierce Manufacturing, an Osh Kosh Corporation Company, to place a Volterra, a zero-emissions pumper, into service in the downtown core of Portland at Fire Station 1. This will be the first step toward PF&R placing an emergency response apparatus into service to meet the city of Portland’s Climate Action Plan.
Another benefit to this addition of the Volterra to our fleet of emergency response vehicles is reduced firefighter exposure to known carcinogenic toxins encountered in diesel exhaust fumes. With too many firefighters succumbing to cancer because of exposures to carcinogens throughout decades-long careers in the fire service, the introduction of the Pierce Volterra is an important step taken by the City of Portland and Portland Fire & Rescue to reduce the incidences of cancer in all current and future members of PF&R.
The history of placing a new fire apparatus into service by pushing it back into the apparatus bay has historical ties to the days when all apparatus were drawn to emergency scenes by teams of horses.
Horses are incapable of backing up, so returning an apparatus to the bay in the fire station was always the work of the crew of firefighters on duty. This traditional push-in ceremony has continued within the fire service, even with the advent of internal combustion-powered rigs and the ability to reverse under power.
