With long overdue new rig, St. Paul launches Minnesota's first electric firetruck

With a chime, automated message and hum of its battery-powered engine, Minnesota's first electric fire truck whirred to life Friday to mark its first day of service in St. Paul.

City officials and state legislators cut a ribbon before praising the Rosenbauer RTX truck, which was assembled in Wyoming, Minn., with features tailored to St. Paul. Mayor Melvin Carter praised the truck's design before taking a test drive Friday. Carter said its compact size allows ease of access to more businesses, adding that its features will help protect residents and firefighters. The new engine's arrival comes amid one of the deadliest years for fires in St. Paul's recent history with eight deaths, including a January blaze that claimed the lives of four young children.

"It does so many things and creates so many operational advantages for our Fire Department," Carter said. "This will help us to improve the level of service that we provide to both our community and for our firefighters."

The rig's height adjusts for firefighters to grab equipment with more ease and to traverse rain and snow that has stranded diesel fire trucks in St. Paul in the past. Its wheels rotate, allowing the rig to pivot and turn around tight corners. Cameras show a 360-degree view around the engine, ditching side mirrors in order to save space, and a backup generator keeps the truck running through shifts that can stretch past 12 hours.

"This truck is all-wheel drive, so that's going to be very very beneficial in the wintertime. That's not something you would typically find on a fire apparatus," Todd McBride, Rosenbauer America's sales and marketing manager, said at Friday's ceremony.

Additional trucks are on order for the cities of Roseville and Superior, Wis.

Fire Department Chief Butch Inks is excited about the new rig, explaining that it's the first time St. Paul has added to the total number of fire engines in 66 years. Inks expects it also will reduce spending on the 2,000 gallons of fuel pumped into diesel trucks every year. But Inks said he is most excited for the truck's impact on firefighters' health.

According to the nonprofit Minnesota Firefighter Initiative, fire service workers across the state suffer cardiac disease, emotional trauma and cancer "at rates nearly twice as high as the general public." Much of that is caused by fires and by diesel engines spewing fumes where firefighters sleep.

"This electric engine is more than just state-of-the-art technology. It embodies our commitment to explore new, effective ways to deliver public safety for the people of St. Paul," Inks said. "With this step forward, we're reaffirming our promise to keep innovation and the community at the heart of our mission."

St. Paul paid $1.8 million for the truck after federal lawmakers rejected the city's request for funding this year. Similar diesel engines cost about $800,000, Fire Department spokesperson Jamie Smith said, but a study commissioned in Vancouver reports that Quebec's electric fire truck would save $12,000 a year on fuel and maintenance while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 13 tons a year. A Madison, Wis., fire department cited in that study has reported that its electric truck saves officials $15,000 a year on fuel.

The truck will operate from Fire Station 1 near downtown St. Paul until construction ends for a new Fire Station 7 in Dayton's Bluff. That fire station replaces an existing 92-year-old fire station building nearby and will feature 15 dorm rooms, five apparatus bays for emergency vehicles, spaces to decontaminate and store protective equipment, and a community room for public education and outreach.

Inks expects that construction will end early next year.