ALL-TERRAIN AND OFF-ROAD FIRE FIGHTING VEHICLE

Off-road fire engines are used to extinguish fires outside populated areas. Their use is greatest in extinguishing forest fires. Forest fires are one of the most devastating natural disasters causing enormous material and environmental damage. In these fires, wild and domestic animals are burned, and valuable plant species are burned, the restoration of which takes decades. People die and their homes are burned. Forest fires are not expected to decrease under conditions of global warming. It is expected that their quantity and scale will increase with all the resulting harmful consequences for people, nature, and the economy of individual municipalities and countries.

OFF-ROAD FIRE FIGHTING VEHICLE WITH 65.000 L WATER (25.000 L IN TRUCK + 40.000 L IN THE TRAILER)

Unfortunately, every year during the seasons of forest and field fires, it turns out that these fires find us unprepared, and the actions taken to extinguish them turn out to be poorly effective. This is because, in practice, municipalities and fire departments lack specialized off-road firefighting equipment for extinguishing forest fires. For extinguishing forest fires, fire trucks with normal and increased cross-country ability, intended for extinguishing fires in populated areas, are used. Their technical parameters and extinguishing agent capacity are not adequate to the requirements for extinguishing forest fires. The result of this is the low efficiency of firefighting, exposure to risk to the life and health of the employees carrying out firefighting in the forests, and breaking of the fire trucks that are adapted for extinguishing fires in populated areas.

For the successful extinguishing of forest fires, are necessary powerful off-road fire trucks with a clearance of over 400 mm and large amounts of water 25.000 L – 30.000 L, and trailers up to 50.000 L – 70.000 L. These big volumes turn fire trucks and fire trailers into mobile water body reservoirs that can independently participate in forest fire extinguishing or supply water to other fire trucks, motor pumps, and helicopters involved in firefighting. Knowing well the tactics of extinguishing forest fires BULFAER Ltd. put into production specialized fire trucks and fire trailers extinguishing forest fires. For the successful extinguishing of forest fires, each municipality must have at least 1-2 such off-road trucks able to pull a fire trailer with 50.000 L – 70.000 L of water which will guarantee successful fire extinguishing without interruption of the water supply.

 For the production of trucks for work in severe off-road conditions, a base chassis is selected with a structure specially selected for this purpose. The materials for the production of these chassis are significantly strengthened. The clearance is high and can reach or even exceed the clearance of some tractors. The power and the ambient temperature range of the engines ensure trouble-free operation in extreme conditions. The gear ratios of the gearboxes and transfer boxes are selected for driving at low and high speeds in severe off-road conditions. The large load capacity, locking differentials, and other specific technical options ensure that these off-road trucks will fulfil any task for which they are intended.

Almost all truck manufacturers produce off-road versions. Many of these off-road trucks have good operational parameters but poor durability. They are suitable for short-term off-road loads, for example only for exiting the construction site to the paved road, but they are not suitable for all-day work in severe off-road conditions.

Different countries have different requirements for compliance with emission standards. That’s why we offer off-road base chassis compliant with EURO 3, EURO 5 & EURO 6 emission standards. Taking into account all operational specifics and technical parameters, we prioritize working with the following bases off-road chassis:

1. ALL-TERRAIN HEAVY-DUTY TRUCKS

VOLVO, CATERPILLAR, HYUNDAI, and BELL manufacture some of the world’s most rugged and reliable machines. VOLVO, CATERPILLAR, HYUNDAI, and BELL trucks operate flawlessly in the harshest conditions on different continents and countries, such as mines, construction sites, quarries, forests, deserts, swamps, etc. Their high power, cross-country ability, and productivity make them the best-preferred trucks in the harshest working conditions. The VOLVO, CATERPILLAR, HYUNDAI, and BELL all-terrain heavy-duty fire trucks with clearance of up to 600+ mm and carry up to 55,000 L of water without a trailer. They are 2-in-1 and combine a fire truck’s highest technical and operational qualities with fire tractors.

VOLVO

CATERPILLAR

HYUNDAI

BELL

FOR EXAMPLE:

1. From an operational point of view:
   – 10 fire trucks with 10 drivers on-road or off-road to put out fires in cities
   cannot go into difficult-to-reach terrain where one heavy-duty fire truck, VOLVO
   or CATERPILLAR, will go and cannot perform the extinguishing work that VOLVO or
   CATERPILLAR will perform.
   – 10 fire trucks with 10 drivers on-road or off-road to put out fires in cities will
   consume much more fuel than one heavy-duty fire truck, VOLVO or CATERPILLAR.
   – The subtraction of 10 or 20 fire trucks from cities with 10 – 20 drivers to fight
   urban fires to replace 1 – 2 heavy-duty fire trucks, VOLVO, or CATERPILLAR, to
   fight forest fires will in practice deprive cities of effective fire protection.
2. From an investment point of view:
   – With the average price of an off-road fire truck for extinguishing fires in cities
   around 300,000 EUR, 10 fire trucks would have a total price of around 3,000,000
   The price of one heavy-duty fire truck, VOLVO, or CATERPILLAR that
   can successfully put out forest fires would be about 4 – 5 times (400% – 500%)
   lower than the price of these 10 city fire trucks.

Below is information about two types of off-road truck chassis IVECO ASTRA & Mercedes-Benz Zetros suitable for fire vehicles for extinguishing forest fires.

OFF-ROAD TRUCKS IVECO ASTRA & Mercedes-Benz Zetros

– Trucks with 4×4 wheel configuration

Off-road fire truck IVECO ASTRA 4×4

Off-road fire truck Mercedes-Benz Zetros 4×4

IVECO ASTRA 4×4
GVW: 21.000 kg /25.000 kg
Type of base chassis: Rigid or Tractor
Payload: 12.000 kg / 15.000 kg
Gross weight of Composition: 55.000 kg
Engine emission standard: EURO 3/5/6
Engine power: 380 hp – 480 hp
Engine torque: 1.800 Nm – 2.200 Nm
Clearance: 320 mm – 420 mm

Mercedes-Benz Zetros 4×4
GVW: 18.000 kg
Type of base chassis: Rigid or Tractor
Payload: 10.000 kg
Gross weight of Composition: 35.000 kg
Engine emission standard: EURO 5
Engine power: 326 hp
Engine torque: 1.300 Nm
Clearance: 320 mm – 420 mm

– Trucks with 6×6 / 6х4 wheel configuration

IVECO ASTRA 6×6 / 6×4
GVW: 32.000 kg / 40.000 kg
Type of base chassis: Rigid or Tractor
Payload: 28.000 kg – 30,000 kg
Gross weight of Composition: 121.500 kg
Engine emission standard: EURO 3/5/6
Engine power: 450 hp /500 hp / 560 hp
Engine torque: 2.200 Nm/2.300 Nm/2.500 Nm
Clearance: 320 mm – 420 mm

Mercedes-Benz Zetros 6×6 / 6×4
GVW: 27.000 kg /36.000 kg / 40.000 kg
Type of base chassis: Rigid or Tractor
Payload: 18.000 kg – 28.000 kg
Gross weight of Composition: 65.000 kg
Engine emission standard: EURO 3/5
Engine power: 428 hp
Engine torque: 2.100 Nm
Clearance: 320 mm – 420 mm

– Trucks with 8х8 / 8х4 wheel configuration

IVECO ASTRA Rigid 8×8 / 8×4
GVW: 50.000 kg
Type of base chassis: Rigid
Payload: 42.000 kg
Gross weight of Composition: 121.500 kg
Engine emission standard: EURO 3/5/6
Engine power: 440 hp /480 hp / 540 hp
Engine torque: 2.200 Nm/2.300 Nm/2.500 Nm
Clearance: 320 mm – 420 mm

IVECO ASTRA Tractor 8×8 / 8×4
GVW: 32.000 kg / 50.000 kg
Type of base chassis: Tractor
Payload: 24.000 kg
Gross weight of Composition: 121.500 kg
Engine emission standard: EURO 3/5/6
Engine power: 440 hp /480 hp / 540 hp
Engine torque: 2.200 Nm/2.300 Nm/2.350 Nm
Clearance: 320 mm – 420 mm

LOADING FIRE HELICOPTERS WITH WATER

Firefighting helicopters are used to extinguish fires in rocky mountain areas or forest areas with very steep terrain where vehicle movement is impossible. Firefighting helicopters carry relatively small amounts of water, which requires them to be very often refuelled with water. Frequent refuelling of firefighting helicopters with water significantly reduces their efficiency because most of the time is not spent fighting the fire but is spent going and returning to the water reservoirs to be refilled, which are often many kilometres from the fire site.

The presence of ALL-TERRAIN and OFF-ROAD FIRE FIGHTING VEHICLES or FIRE TRACTORS WITH TRAILERS carrying large quantities of water (25.000 L – 55.000 L) makes it possible to supply water to other fire trucks and helicopters involved in extinguishing the fire. Loading the helicopters with water at the scene of the fire significantly increases their efficiency and minimizes the time for going and returning from distant water bodies.

Helicopters designed for firefighting come in two types – with an internal or external water tank.

Fire helicopter with an internal water tank

Fire helicopter with an external water tank

Firefighting helicopters with an internal tank can be filled with water directly from fire trucks and fire tractors or through an intermediate flexible tank filled with water from fire trucks or tractors carrying large quantities of water.

Refueling a firefighting helicopter with an internal tank with water directly from the tank of the fire truck or fire trailer.

Refueling a firefighting helicopter with an internal tank with water via an intermediate flexible tank

Firefighting helicopters with an external tank are filled with water through an intermediate flexible tank

Refueling a firefighting helicopter with an external tank with water via an intermediate flexible tank.

IMPORTANT!

When recharging helicopters with water not from a dam but on-site at the fire from a fire truck or fire tractor carrying large quantities of water, there is another major advantage besides saving time for recharging. This is the difference in the water composition that helicopters use for firefighting.

Water recharged from a dam or other water source has a high surface tension at the molecular level. This leads to the encapsulation of the water droplets, which seriously impairs the water’s extinguishing properties when it hits burning materials. The water provided by a fire truck or fire tractor to fill the helicopter has added and precisely dosed surfactants to reduce the surface tension of the water. This leads to a sharp increase in the extinguishing efficiency of the water used by the helicopter when extinguishing forest fires.

FIRE FIGHTING VEHICLES FOR RAPID RESPONSE

Every major forest fire that covers a large area starts from a small fire. In large fires, the wind blows burning branches, which create new small fires. If these new small fires are not extinguished in time, they will grow and turn into a large forest fire. Therefore, it is very important to have rapid-response fire trucks with high cross-country ability, which can quickly move through the forest terrains and extinguish the newly formed fires.

The rapid response fire fighting vehicles that BULFIRE Ltd. offers have high clearance, are equipped with water tanks with a capacity of 500 L up to 2.000 L, tanks with a wetting agent of 30 L up to 100 L, which significantly increases the extinguishing efficiency of the water, and high-pressure fire pumps, 40 bar to 200 bar + pumps for normal pressure 10 bar as an optional. Fire trucks for rapid response in the city are available on robust VOLKSWAGEN Crafter chassis. Fire trucks for rapid response in forest and mountain fires are available on robust all-terrain UTV chassis.

Off-road fire engines are used to extinguish fires outside populated areas. Their use is greatest in extinguishing forest fires. Forest fires are one of the most devastating natural disasters causing enormous material and environmental damage. In these fires, wild and domestic animals are burned, and valuable plant species are burned, the restoration of which takes decades. People die and their homes are burned. Forest fires are not expected to decrease under conditions of global warming. It is expected that their quantity and scale will increase with all the resulting harmful consequences for people, nature, and the economy of individual municipalities and countries.