Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA: The Los Angeles Fire Department welcomes its first electric fire engine which will soon enter service at LAFD Station 82 in Hollywood.

City of Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley was joined by community and industry leaders in Hollywood on Saturday, May 14, to announce the arrival of the department’s first electric engine, the Rosenbauer Group RTX.

Crowley stated the LAFD signed an agreement to become the first fire department in North America to purchase an all electric fire engine.

“This engine, electric engine, has many benefits and first and foremost, it will reduce noise, and one of the main things when we talk about our firefighter health and overall well being, it will reduce and bring it basically to nothing in regard to diesel emissions and that’s a very important piece at least from my perspective that we are actually going to create the space for our firefighters to be healthier around our fire engines,” said Crowley.

When answering questions from reporters, Crowley was clearly enthusiastic about the new fire engine and its benefits to the environment and to the department.

“This is a historical day for Los Angeles City Fire Department … it’s an exciting day when we talk about leaning forward and being innovative … this right here, this electric fire engine, is something we’ve never seen before, so we, as an organization, are really excited to put this thing into service,” said Crowley.

Video: Keith Johnson, Photojournalist / KNN

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