Just in time for the height of wildfire season, Hillsborough County Fire Rescue (HCFR) has evolved its fleet of brush trucks to further protect residents and firefighters from dangerous dry-season brush fires.
The new brush trucks are built on a four-door, Ford F-550 chassis. They were designed based upon Hillsborough County's specifications to take into account the county's unique terrain. Because they were built for HCFR, they are unique to Hillsborough County alone.
The trucks are four-wheel-drive capable, able to tackle sugar sand, palmetto scrubs, and everything in between. With a front turret, ground sweeps and dual whip lines, wildland firefighting has now stepped up to a new level.
The dual whip lines can be operated by firefighters inside the back seat of the trucks to extinguish brush fires while the vehicle is moving. This is safer for the firefighters because it is dangerous to walk in sand and potentially step in holes or trip on scrub roots.
The trucks replace older, less-capable brush trucks that had reached the end of their operational capacity.
Original source can be found here.
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