Project Electric Back "The Pebble"

Whetstone RFB in the Western Rivers RFSQ Area now has a vehicle, and it is out defending communities

11 October 2024
 
Pebble1
Photo from Matt Oxenford, 3rd Officer Whetstone RFB.

The Ford Ranger was donated to the RFBAQ by QFleet for ‘project electric back’, with its forever home being a brigade without a truck. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yduvEAmmtqo

The Brigade had most of the major fires in their area last fire season, including Bybera Road fire, Gunn Creek fire and Beebo fire.

Whetstone RFB covers 628.51 Sq Km with most of that area adjoining State Forest.

A huge thanks to QFleet for the cab chassis, Geoff Gray from ESG Global / Code3 for the lightbar and RFSQ for the funding for us to upgrade the ute’s GVM to 3.5t and to put a big tray on it.

Who can’t find a use for a ute with a big tray?

Once fire season settles down a bit the RFBAQ and QFleet will work out a time that is convenient for the brigade members for a handover with pikelets and jam.

map

 

11th June 2024

Friday 7th June saw the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service & Partnerships hold a demonstration morning for the 'Pebble' at Freshwater NP, Deception Bay.

This was an opportunity for both Parks and QFleet to get hands on with the electric high flow pump, squirt some water and speak to the engineer.

A huge thanks to QFleet for the platform, AIS for displaying the prototype electric pump and of course to the 'Parkies' for putting the morning together.

The Ford Ranger 3.5t single cab ute will soon be going to Whetstone Rural Fire Brigade, in the Western Rivers RFSQ Area, and this will be their first brigade vehicle as they transition from a non truck brigade to a truck brigade.

This is another vehicle that the RFBAQ has supplied to a Rural Fire Brigade and we cannot thank QFleet and RFSQ enough for supporting this project from inception.

Our goal for the FusionCruiser was to make a safer light attack firefighting platform that also meets brigade needs and we think that we have succeeded. The missing component on that project was a reliable, high flow electric pumpset.

With the 'Pebble' project now closing, we have the ability to manufacture a back for a vehicle that will pair with a varied vehicle engine system, either petrol, diesel, hydrogen or electric.

4th March 2024

We don't know what vehicles will be powered by in the future, it could be diesel, petrol, hydrogen, electricity and/or something else. As such we have very little control of what the base power plant of the vehicle is.

What we do have control over is everything downstream from the vehicle power plant.

Through the development of the 8 initial RFBAQ Landcruisers, the RFBAQ / QuikCorp Innovation Platform and the RFBAQ FusionCruiser, we believe that there has been a real advancement in user-driven design and firefighter safety in light attack firefighting platforms.

In the pursuit of a less flammable and more survivable light attack we have come to a stage where the only thing that is not electrically driven from the main vehicle power unit is the firefighting motor/pump.

Developing a high flow electric pump that can Case 4, deliver through multiple lines, is simple to operate and is very quiet is the piece that has been missing in future-proofing firefighting vehicle design.

The Smart Automated Fire Equipment - Light Vehicle Module, or SAFE-LVM, is manufactured under the name Jaxian by All Industry Services and Entire Research and Development (with support from IFM).

A huge thanks to QFleet, QFES and RFSQ for supporting this project and supporting the RFBAQ to make the Pebble a reality.

P1020035
P1020039
P1020056
P1020045
P1020030

Monday, 19 Dec 2022

Through the development of the 8 initial RFBAQ Landcruisers, the Innovation Platform and now the FusionCruiser, we believe that there has been a real advancement in user driven design and firefighter safety in light attack firefighting platforms. 
 
In the pursuit of a less flammable and more survivable light attack we have come to a stage where the only thing that is not electrically driven from the main vehicle power unit is the firefighting motor/pump.
 
QFleet has very kindly donated the RFBAQ a Ford Ranger single cab ute to be the test bed for Project Electric Back. At the conclusion of the project that Ford Ranger ute will be gifted to a Queensland Rural Fire Brigade.
 
QFES Commissioner Greg Leach and RFSQ Chief Officer Joanne Greenfield are co-sponsors of this project, and we would like to thank them for seeing the future benefits for brigades in Queensland. 
 
Adding to the already identified drive to enhance crew safety, we don’t know what vehicles will be powered by in the future, it could be diesel, petrol, hydrogen, electricity or something else. As such we have very little control of what the base power plant of the vehicle is.
 
What we can control is everything behind that base power plant and this project is precisely that – 
We intend to design and build an electric back that meets current light attack firefighting needs that can be future coupled with any base power plant that a vehicle manufacturer supplies in the future cab chassis.
The learnings from this project, as with the learnings from the Innovation Platform, will ensure that brigades are able to continue to defend their communities receiving equipment that is both fit for purpose and sustainable.
 
The test of success will be the vehicle being able to fight a night fire with a 15 minute drive to a static water source where the crew will Case 4 and then a 15 minute drive back to the fireground.
 
This vehicle will not travel across the state, as everyone knows what a light attack does and needs to do to be considered useful, rather this vehicle will be under a constant state of tinkering and testing until intent is met or failure conceded.
 
As with the QuikCorp/RFBAQ Innovation Platform, we are seeking suppliers to bring forward new, low power alternatives for the equipment and fittings that are currently in use on light attack vehicles. This includes lower power headlights, spot lights and scene lights for vehicles. 
 
Regular updates will be provided on our website, Facebook page and RFBAQ YouTube channel.
 
Again a huge thanks to QFleet for supporting this project and working with the RFBAQ for over a year to make it happen.
 
 
 
Email contact is gm@rfbaq.org