Residents of Toronto and Brampton (Canada) will soon see a fire engine passing them on the street without the heavy roar of a diesel engine. That is because the fire services for both cities will soon have fully battery-electric pumper trucks in their fleets, Wheels.ca reported.
In late August, Toronto Fire Services announced that two all-electric Vector fire trucks have been ordered from Spartan Emergency Response, a U.S.-based designer and manufacturer of specialty vehicles, the report said.
Toronto will be one of the first fire departments in Canada to operate the Vector pumpers, which will be powered by 327 kilowatt-hours worth of automotive-grade batteries, according to the report.
While Toronto’s decision to go with an electric pumper was big news, it is not the first fire service in the province to do so. That honor goes to the Brampton Fire and Emergency services, which ordered an electric pumper truck in June 2021, the report said.
It has opted to purchase a Rosenbauer RTX, a unit designed by Rosenbauer America. The pumper has 132-kilowatt-hours of power but is smaller and different in overall appearance from a traditional fire truck, the report said.
