Mesa puts nation's fully electric fire truck into service

Jan. 11—Mesa Fire Engineer Casey Pursley said until recently the only electric vehicle he'd ever driven was a golf cart.

That was before the Mesa Fire and Medical Department tapped the 32-year veteran to drive its new fully electric pumper truck, a multi-ton beast that looks identical to any other fire truck in Mesa's fleet.

But the new engine at Fire Station 221 in Eastmark glides down the road and can blast 750 gallons of water per minute through four hoses with barely any sound.

"The biggest difference is no sound. It's quiet," said Pursley, who spent his prior career driving diesel fire trucks.

Other than that, Pursley said, the truck handles the same as a diesel.

"I do like it," he said. "At the end of my career, it's a pretty cool adventure."

Mesa Fire and Medical stationed the electric truck in Eastmark because the new fire station there was designed with charging infrastructure.

Mesa City Council approved the purchase of the $1.4 million truck from emergency vehicle maker E-One in 2021. Supply chain issues delayed delivery by six to eight months.

The 50-year-old E-One's company name is not a reference to electricity and Mesa's order of the fully electric truck was the company's first.

REV Fire Group President Mike Virnig said Mesa's truck is the first 100% electric North American-style fire engine to be put into service in the U.S.

Mesa's receipt of the truck is a big deal for E-One, and the company will be following up soon with electric trucks for Toronto and Charlotte, North Carolina, he said.

The trucks take time to build, Virnig said, because each vehicle is essentially a custom job, assembled to meet the specification of each fire department.

In November, the Town of Gilbert took delivery of an electric fire truck from truck manufacturer Pierce. That fire truck has a back-up internal combustion engine, so Mesa officials say it's not technically 100% electric.

Mesa Assistant Manager Scott Butler said a conventional diesel fire truck costs the city about $1 million — about $400,000 less than the electric.

But he pointed out there are cost savings with the electric truck on fuel. Mesa spends about $7 million annually on gasoline and diesel fuel for its fleet.

The new truck was purchased with general fund dollars and public safety bonds approved in 2018.

At a ceremony held Jan. 4 to mark radio dispatchers officially calling the electric truck into service, firefighters and city officials emphasized the benefits to firefighter health, in addition to helping the city attain its carbon reduction goals.

The E-One truck does everything on electric power, both driving and pumping water.

Chief Mary Camelli said pumping water with electricity is a big deal because during a fire, firefighters may be working near the truck for hours. If pumps are run on the diesel engine, firefighters are exposed to the exhaust.

She said the relative quiet of the pumps on the new truck would also aid communication at fires and reduce stress.

Firefighter Trevyn Crosser, chapter president of United Mesa Fire Fighters, said in pump mode the diesel engines are running at higher rotations per minute than when the truck is moving.

He said he can sense extra emissions in the air when the diesels are running on a scene, though newer diesel trucks have improved in this regard.

Crosser said there was a little hesitation from firefighters about the truck at first, but now acceptance is high.

"As a city and fire department, we pride ourselves on innovation," Crosser said. "We want to be the leading edge in tactics and equipment."

Mesa firefighters at the Eastmark station have had the electric truck for a little over a week.

Pursley said the crew is still getting to know the vehicle, though it was designed to have the same layout as Mesa's diesel trucks.

"It's like having a new member of the team," Pursley said.

Is electricity the future of the fire service, as Mayor John Giles predicted in his remarks?

Pursley said he's reserving final judgment until after the truck has been put through some things — a hot summer and a big fire.

"Ask me in three years," Pursley said.