Monroe FD Unveils High Tech Fire Truck for Monroe Regional Airport
By: Alanna Quillen
Updated: February 13, 2013
MONROE -- The fire department at Monroe Regional Airport has a new, giant member on their team.
It's a new fire truck that's bringing a whole new spin on safety. Fire crews have trained on it for the past month, and demonstrated the new addition Wednesday morning.
The Striker 3000 is a state of the art fire truck that can hold double the capacity of water and foam than the other trucks.
"If you go anywhere in the country to some of the major airports like LAX, La Guardia, Dallas Ft. Worth -- you'll find the same apparatus there that we've purchased here in Monroe," said Richard Hall, Chief of Training for the Monroe Fire Department.
A few important features include a fuselage piercing nozzle, which can pierce through a plane and spray foam from within.
"And fight fires on inside without risking the lives of our fire fighters by putting them inside," said Hall.
A 50-foot high extend-able arm helps crews reach problem areas, in addition to a tanks that can hold 3,000 gallons of water, 420 gallons of foam, and can flow up to 2,000 gallons per minute while stationary or moving
"Which gives us a greater fire fighting capacity and the ability to knock fires down so much faster," Hall said.
A Forward Looking Infrared camera, or FLIR, sees body heat through walls or wreckage to help find victims still trapped in a plane or in pitch black smoke.
"It gives us a lot of great capability that we've never had with the former trucks," said Hall.
The one truck also bumps up the airport to a Class C index, which means they have the capacity to cover larger planes without having to get more equipment or manpower.
"What this does will afford us the opportunity to have those larger aircraft carriers come into Monroe," said Monroe Mayor Jamie Mayo.
Even Mayor Mayo took the truck for a spin around the fire department lot.
"Without question, it's the most expensive vehicle I've ever driven," said Mayo.
This new truck costs $915,193 but it's fully funded by the Louisiana State Department of Transportation Aviation Division.
It's a new fire truck that's bringing a whole new spin on safety. Fire crews have trained on it for the past month, and demonstrated the new addition Wednesday morning.
The Striker 3000 is a state of the art fire truck that can hold double the capacity of water and foam than the other trucks.
"If you go anywhere in the country to some of the major airports like LAX, La Guardia, Dallas Ft. Worth -- you'll find the same apparatus there that we've purchased here in Monroe," said Richard Hall, Chief of Training for the Monroe Fire Department.
A few important features include a fuselage piercing nozzle, which can pierce through a plane and spray foam from within.
"And fight fires on inside without risking the lives of our fire fighters by putting them inside," said Hall.
A 50-foot high extend-able arm helps crews reach problem areas, in addition to a tanks that can hold 3,000 gallons of water, 420 gallons of foam, and can flow up to 2,000 gallons per minute while stationary or moving
"Which gives us a greater fire fighting capacity and the ability to knock fires down so much faster," Hall said.
A Forward Looking Infrared camera, or FLIR, sees body heat through walls or wreckage to help find victims still trapped in a plane or in pitch black smoke.
"It gives us a lot of great capability that we've never had with the former trucks," said Hall.
The one truck also bumps up the airport to a Class C index, which means they have the capacity to cover larger planes without having to get more equipment or manpower.
"What this does will afford us the opportunity to have those larger aircraft carriers come into Monroe," said Monroe Mayor Jamie Mayo.
Even Mayor Mayo took the truck for a spin around the fire department lot.
"Without question, it's the most expensive vehicle I've ever driven," said Mayo.
This new truck costs $915,193 but it's fully funded by the Louisiana State Department of Transportation Aviation Division.
