ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Albuquerque Fire Rescue (AFR) has a new piece of equipment to help fight fires in the Bosque and potentially other parts of the city. The department recently purchased a Skeeter Polaris Ranger UTV for $110,000 through Siddons-Martin Emergency Group. “So this truck is actually going to be part of our wildland division. It’s […]
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Albuquerque Fire Rescue (AFR) has a new piece of equipment to help fight fires in the Bosque and potentially other parts of the city. The department recently purchased a Skeeter Polaris Ranger UTV for $110,000 through Siddons-Martin Emergency Group.
“So this truck is actually going to be part of our wildland division. It’s just a UTV but it also has a pump on it. So it’s going to give us initially some quick access into areas like the Bosque, and that’s where this truck is going to be stationed at,” said AFR Public Information Officer Lt. Jason Fejer.
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AFR has several other UTVs in its fleet, but this one is unique given that it’s the department’s first one with a pump on the back. “It’s got 60 gallons of water, a 6-gallon-per-minute pump, and 5 gallons of foam as well,” Fejer explained, adding, “It can serve a couple purposes, provide an initial attack on some of these wildland events, or even scouting a fire to find out exactly where it is or where our best access might be, or just moving people.”
Alongside the pump and tank on the back of the UTV, there is space for a stokes basket, typically used to carry someone who is injured, and a jump seat where an EMS provider can sit and tend to a patient. On top of the UTV is a space for equipment.
The UTV also has several other features, including a winch in the front that can help move debris or towing, lights, sirens, an enclosed cab, front and rear cameras, and more.
“So one advantage it has is its size. So it can get into some of those areas or up trails that we might not be able to get one of our Type 6 or Type 3 brush trucks up, or even one of our Type 1 engines,” Fejer said.
The newly acquired UTV is currently awaiting AFR’s decals but was already put to use by being stationed at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta during fireworks shows.
Fejer said they also plan to have it stationed at other large events with fireworks, such as the Freedom 4th celebration or Isotopes games, essentially allowing AFR to free up the larger fire engines that would typically be assigned to those events. “This truck is going to kind of fill a void that we’ve had that kind of fits right in between some of our bigger apparatus and some of the UTVs that we already have,” Fejer added.
If needed, the truck can also be used for mountain rescues, and, if successful, AFR may buy more.
Fejer expects the UTV to have all the decals and be ready to move to its new home at AFR’s soon-to-open boathouse by the end of this week.