By Brian Ward
FireRescue1 Contributor
During this year’s FDIC in Indianapolis, Oshkosh Corporation held a private ceremony for friends and employees on the floor of the Lucas Oil Stadium. The purpose of this ceremony was to unveil their new Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF) vehicle at the Pierce booth. The new Striker is the work of firefighters and fire chiefs from around the world, who worked together in order to produce the vehicle designed to protect all air travelers.
The new Striker features a variety of design enhancements to make it one of the most innovative ARFF vehicles in the world, and enable airport firefighters to do their job efficiently and safely.
This Striker has been in development for three years, while working with the end users in order to engineer and manufacture the innovative ideas that now come on the Striker. Advanced safety systems have been built into all aspects of the vehicle’s design. The new Striker is designed to exceed NFPA requirements for static side slope stability and the cab is built to meet Europe’s stringent ECE 29 Certification for structural integrity.
The new Striker’s fire suppression technology comes available with Pulse Delivery that enables firefighters to deliver dry chemical powder in a truly “dry” form over 90 feet (27 meters) which is more than three times the ability of other dry chemical systems. The new Striker offers electronic foam proportioning, a wide selection of bumper turrets and a high reach extendable turret. In addition, the new Striker is engineered to accommodate Ultra High Pressure (UHP) technology, a high-pressure water system and a Compressed Air Foam (CAF) system.
The new Striker is also 2,000 pounds lighter than its predecessor, which allows for faster acceleration and increased fuel efficiency.
Equipped with Oshkosh’s patented TAK-4 all-wheel independent suspension with dual control arms and 16 inches (40.6 cm) of wheel travel, the new Striker also features improved off-road mobility. The vehicle’s smart design features include a Mission Control Console driver environment with function specific, purpose driven controls and color-coded switches and groupings to support trained response actions by firefighters.
If you are a in need of an Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting vehicle or just want to look at a really cool apparatus, the new Oshkosh Striker is definitely one to take a look at. Oshkosh is the parent corporation for Fire Apparatus by Pierce. For additional information visit www.Oshkoshcorporation.com and www.pierce.com.
Brian Ward is a firefighter/acting officer with Gwinnett County (GA) Fire Department. He is a past training officer and chairman of the Metro Atlanta Training Officers. He is a State of Georgia Advocate for Everyone Goes Home and the Membership Task Force Co-Chair for ISFSI. Brian was recently awarded the National Seal of Excellence from the NFFF/EGH. He has an associate’s degree in fire science and is completing his bachelor’s degree with the University of Cincinnati. He is the founder of FireServiceSLT.com and Georgia Smoke Diver #741.