AFD Prepares New Heavy Rescue 4 Vehicle for Service

Tomorrow from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m., the Anchorage Fire Department (AFD) will formally place its new Heavy Rescue truck in service during a public ceremony.

The new Heavy Rescue 4, housed at Fire Station 4 in east Anchorage, will be replacing a 15 year old smaller truck that has reached the end of its service life. In 2016, voters approved a bond that allowed AFD to build this truck to custom meet its needs and serve the community. The Heavy Rescue is designed to support rescue operations within the Municipality of Anchorage stretching from Kink Bridge North to Portage Valley South of town.

Heavy Rescue 4 has four primary missions that it supports:

• Vehicle crash stabilization and removal of victims. Built in Jaws of Life heavy rescue tools to open and cut cars, trucks and busses that may crash on the roadways.
• Firefighting support on all structure fires. Tools and equipment to support a rapid response to firefighters in trouble or recovery during a fire.
• Surface and Subsurface Water Rescue emergencies. Dive team equipped for lakes and boats for Cook Inlet response.
• Industrial accidents and extrication of people in machinery or equipment.
• Tools and equipment to support stabilizing and moving heavy machinery.

This new Rescue truck is built by Pierce Manufacturing of Appleton, Wisconsin. Careful planning for efficient and safe operations have gone into the design of the truck that boasts a large 20kw diesel generator that can support all the electrical needs of the truck, allowing it to have an idle reduction system; the main diesel engine shuts down automatically instead of idling on scene for long periods of time. As a result, the vehicle will greatly reduce fuel consumption and associated maintenance costs.

Heavy Rescue 4 also has all-wheel drive provided by a hydraulic front axle, allowing the vehicle to handle the steep and slippery roads of the Anchorage hillside. This combined with the anti-lock brakes should make for a much safer vehicle to drive.

Tomorrow’s official ceremony will be held at Fire Station 4, the home of a team of firefighters nicknamed the “Midtown Mad Dawgs.”