SALT LAKE CITY — The Salt Lake City Fire Department has taken possession of a new state-of-the-art airport rescue vehicle now stationed at Salt Lake City International Airport’s Fire Station 12.
The new bright yellow-green vehicle is a brand new 2023 Rosenbauer Panther apparatus or ARFF (Airport Rescue Firefighting Rig) as the firefighters at the station call it.
The new vehicle, two to three times larger than your average firetruck, is designed to respond to any airport aircraft crashes or rescue missions.
The Salt Lake City Fire Department now has four of these vehicles. The current vehicle replaced a much older ARFF rig that SLC Fire says was dated in capabilities.
“Basically, what this is, is just a large tank,” said Capt. Brandt Hancuff. “It's filled with 3000 gallons of water in it and then it has 400 gallons of foam, which can mix with that water to blanket the area of an aircraft that has crashed so that we can keep those fumes from igniting.”
The rig can dispense 1250 gallons of water a minute.
According to Hancuff, this type of airport vehicle is common at larger airports. Firefighters have to go through a special type of training to learn how to operate them.
As part of my visit to the fire station, Firefighter Glenn Spencer let me come along for a ride on the brand-new rig. Like riding any vehicle, safety first! We had to wear out seatbelts.
“It drives like a Cadillac,” Spencer quipped.
Spencer who has been with the SLC Fire Department for 21 years, says unlike other firetrucks, the new vehicle can be operated by just one person.
Spencer credits the advanced digital capacities of the firetruck that allow the firefighters at Fire Station 12 to operate efficiently and safely from inside the vehicle.
“We have the ability to complete and execute a fire rescue mission or a hazardous situation from this very seat.”
The ARFF is also equipped with an infrared camera, which can help the firefighters find a fire that could be in an unknown location inside the aircraft.
And finally, many might be wondering why the bright yellow-green color.
“The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration ) designates this bright green-yellow color the most visible color in any weather condition,” Spencer said.
