MESA, Ariz. — The Mesa City Council has authorized spending more than $1.4 million on the city's first electric-powered fire truck.
The all-electric pumper will be housed at a new fire station opening next month near Ray and Ellsworth roads.
The truck will look similar to the rest of Mesa's fleet of fire trucks, except it should generate less noise than the diesel-powered engines.
Mesa is believed to be only the second municipality in the U.S. to be in the process of acquiring an all-electric fire truck.
The battery-powered technology is expected to allow firefighters to get much work done before the truck needs to be recharged.
"The unit will be able to pump four lines at 750 (gallons per minute) for nearly four hours or run 10 medical calls back-to-back on a single charge," city documents state.
The city's $1.4-million contract with E-One to purchase the new vehicle will be funded through bond dollars authorized by voters in 2018 and money taken out of Mesa's capital general fund, public records show.
Mesa's elected leaders said the electric truck supports the city's goals for reducing carbon emissions over the next three decades.
“I’m an advocate for electric vehicles—it’s a better technology and this is one of many steps we can take to bring us closer to our Climate Action Plan goals,” Mayor John Giles said in a statement.
The city expects its electric fire truck to be in use by the fourth quarter of 2022.
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