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Meet The Nation’s First Electric Fire Truck

Look, it MAY happen in my lifetime, I doubt it, but it might.  I’m speaking of electric cars becoming the norm and gas-powered vehicles being phased out.  For the record,…

fire truck
Photo by Pexels/Tom Fisk

Look, it MAY happen in my lifetime, I doubt it, but it might.  I'm speaking of electric cars becoming the norm and gas-powered vehicles being phased out.  For the record, I hope I'm no longer a car owner/driving if and when this happens.  Until a charge on one of these vehicles yields the same performance as a full tank of gas and can be recharged as fast as I can refill, then I'm not interested in having a conversation.  Anyway, slowly but surely the anti-fossil fuel agenda has been making small strides in the electric car societal infiltration.  Further evidence was unveiled a few days ago as The Los Angeles Fire Department just announced it has received the first all-electric fire truck in America.

Meet the Rosenbauer RTX fire truck.  It's the first fully operational electric fire truck in this country-only the fourth in the entire world and is now in service with the LAFD's Station 82.  Want some specs?  The RTX has two electric motors (one driving each axle). Here's the funny/ironic part.  For longer fire-fighting responsibilities, the truck has a diesel-powered range extender onboard to recharge its batteries or power a water pump when required.  Yup, it's environmentally friendly...right up until push comes to shove and you can't risk needing to plug in your fire truck.  SMH.  The fire truck will seat 7 and can carry up to 1000 feet of hose.  There's also ladder storage and a 500–750-gallon water tank.  By the way, this new truck only costs $1.2 million.

Charlie Nance is the Afternoon Drive co-host (along with his wife) of "The Charlie and Debbie Show" at WSOC, Country 1037 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The couple have been with the radio station since 2006. Charlie has won the prestigious CMA (Country Music Association) Award for Radio Personality of the Year and has been a finalist for the Country Radio Hall of Fame four times. Prior to his time in Charlotte, Charlie (along with Debbie) spent more than a decade hosting successful morning radio shows in Greenville, SC; Augusta, Ga; and Birmingham, Al. As a content creator for Country 1037, Charlie writes about dream lottery windfalls, sports, restaurants and bars, and travel experiences in North and South Carolina.