St. Paul Fire Department debuts electric fire truck, first of its kind in Minnesota

The St. Paul Fire Department is celebrating a new addition to its fleet: the first electric fire truck in service in Minnesota.

The city announced last March it had purchased the RTX fire truck from Austrian manufacturer Rosenbauer. Now, it’s finally built and ready for the streets.

“Today we officially put into service Minnesota’s first electric fire engine, an achievement that aligns with our city’s dedication to a cleaner, healthier and more sustainable future,” St. Paul Fire Chief Butch Inks said at a news conference and demonstration on Friday morning.

On top of being an environmentally friendly ride for St. Paul firefighters, the new rig, Engine 7, will bring SPFD’s total number of fire engines to 16, the most the department has had since 1958, according to Inks.

Engine 7 is slimmer than a conventional fire truck and uses cameras instead of side-view mirrors, design elements that Rosenbauer says will make it easier for crews to maneuver through traffic and narrow residential streets. The front and rear axles both pivot, too, allowing it to turn on a dime or even rotate in place.

It comes equipped with all-wheel drive to handle heavy snow, and hydraulic lifts allow it to drive through nearly 3 feet of water if it needs to go through a flood zone. Likewise, the cab can be lowered for ease of access, much like a kneeling bus.

“I’ll tell you, this thing does a whole lot of things, but two of my favorite things about it are two things it doesn’t do,” Mayor Melvin Carter said, referring to its quiet engine and lack of diesel exhaust. Those features will protect firefighters’ hearing and lungs in the long term, Carter said

The mayor wrapped up his remarks by notifying dispatch over the radio that Minnesota’s first electric fire engine was officially in service. After a ribbon-cutting ceremony, Chief Inks took Mayor Carter for a spin on Engine 7’s maiden voyage.

Engine 7 will eventually stay at the new Station 7 once it’s built on the city’s East Side, but for now it’s housed at Station 1 at the intersection of West Seventh Street and Randolph Avenue.