Gull-Wing Firefighting ATV Could Operate in the Middle of Inferno

I'd like to buy one of those!!!

Man that is tough looking. I could have some fun getting that thing dirty!

I'd buy one even without the water tanks (alter them into fuel tanks?) just so I'd have a bad ass ATV.

I bet the army has many of these stealth style with .50 caliber machine guns on it. I would totally buy it.

reminds me of the old NES game, Master Blaster. i want one!

Tiger Woods might buy one for late night quick exits. Is it golf club proof?

Nope can't be done - its too much cool to fit in one vehicle.

This is a dumb idea, doubt any fire department would buy one. The thing only carries 2200 liters. That is still a small amount for a large forest fire, and where would you have to go to refill it? They need to make one that can be refilled at remote locations using water from rivers and lakes. Anothter thought would be to make an ATV that can blow fire breaks really fast other that can also dilver fire surpresnt material.

"This is a dumb idea..."

Excuse me? This is the perfect vehicle for rescuing stuck firefighters who are suddenly surrounded by dangerous flames. Even if the vehicle can only clear a path for the men/women to escape before it runs out of water, it's lived up to its usefulness. Such short-sighted responses irk me.

The article said how the actual vehicle would be kept safe from the heat and flames, but what about the tires?

The pics of this thing makes me think of C$C Tiberian Sun's Attack Buggy. Not the in-game sprite, but what the real world rendition of it would be. Who ever decides to market this would smart to read some of the other comments on this page (...I want this...). Of course some sacrifices would have to be made in order to make it "affordable" to the general public. Sacrifices such as the aerogel laminate, the military-grade thermo ceramic paint, and possibly the run-flat tires. Besides, I'm sure that if I had the extra money for one of these, there would be no hesitation for me to buy one.

please let me buy one. i wont turn the water cannon into a flamethrower... again...

oh and b00n3s ill buy no matter what the cost

First

The ROSCO system utilizing IFEX3000 impulse technology is not only a hugely efficient means of fire suppression, but vitally will eliminate crew members being subjected to the elements and stresses of extended high intensity work on the fire ground, while constantly maintaining vehicle mobility.

Second

18 liter cannons with 60 meters range (optimum at 40 meters).

Third

effective fire extinguishing distance 10 to 40 meters

Fourth

So on their webpage it says 1 liter sprayed every second. that means your great system has 2200 seconds. That is not a lot of time. sorry still a dumb idea.

I should say for the cost of what the unit will run not a good idea...

This is a nice consept but do we realy need to keep distroying human life?

Azorus, you are absolutely right. 36 minutes of continuous spray, combined with ample heat shielding for the crew, plus the benefits of being more maneuverable aren't a good idea at all.

Especially since it won't be able to reach more areas in less time and carry a larger payload than current recon vehicles. Oh wait.

They did specify it is design for RECON!!! That means it isn't even supposed to fight the fires, it is made to go out see what is up and report back. Any extinguishing power is merely a useful after thought so that if maybe a kitten was about to catch on fire they can drown it instead.
The truly cool parts are the fact that it looks like you could damn near drive into a volcano, replace the tires and come back out (not literally of course).

Like everyone said they should make a version without the water tanks, aerogel (epic stuff in its own right) and make two consumer versions. One that uses some of the new space available from removing the water tanks for extra fuel and keep the passenger and make a sweet off-roading toy. And another version that might have less fuel and remove the passenger spot and add some storage capacity. Then lower it and make a sweet fun commuter car.

Sorry forgot 2 things:
This looks like it would be effective at fighting fires anyway, even though if you ask me it looks like that is not the purpose of it, I think recon is all they had in mind and had some extra money in the budget.

I wonder if I'll something like this at the LA Auto show this weekend, first time I'm going, I have no clue what to expect.

lnwolf41 Nice concept just ramp up the size a little add tracks it would would hold more water be more vwrsitle.

If my math is correct than 2200 liters is about 550 gallons and since fresh water weighs in at about 8 lbs per gallon, depending on its temperature, the vehicle would be carrying about 4400 pounds or 2.2 tons of fresh water. That is in addition to the weight of the vehicle. The Hummer set up as a fire fighting vehicle carries app 200 gallons in a tank that is located in tanks located within the frame of the rear cargo area but below the built up structure that would support the pumps and control equipment for the hoses and nozzles.

Okay, lets see someone build it and put it in action and see just how well the thing works how about that?

Liam, I truly hate to say this, but you gotta put an exterior rollbar on it, it's just too pretty for serious terrain, at least, here in the northwest..needs a winch, too, as we have lots of areas where the forest floor you see is not actually the forest floor; usually about that time, you have fallen through it.

One more thing, recon or not, serious firefighter or not, it does need tools, chainsaw, backboard, rope...what I like most about this rig is that it allows a quicker ground response, at the start of a fire, where it takes less effort to fight it. A slightly larger model might make 4 person crew deployment possible.

sorry bout that, just looked again, it does indeed have a narrow spool winch there...

it's a good idea that could be expanded to be better.

Forget a water cannon, Put a real canon on it, or a chain gun!

Does anybody else think it looks verymuch like the warthog in Halo?

Many have noted its small water supply, which is not easy to increase while maintaining maneuverability. This following solution would only be supplementary, so is not much of a solution at all, but if the vehicle were to run on Hydrogen technology currently under development (once it's developed of course), it could constantly add water to its tanks as a result of its motion (2H2 + O2 -> 2H2O + energy). This would also steal such an insubstantial amount of oxygen from the fire that it would have almost no additional effect at all, but it could use that to make the car sound useful, as well as appealing to the hippies who think that Hydrogen is the solution (it's not).

Also, ever heard of the RipSaw? Fastest tracked vehicle in the world? Look it up on YouTube or on this site (quite recent). If these two were to be meshed together (though the RipSaw is remote operated), the abilities of this would be expanded tenfold.

will everyone P-UH-LEEAAASE stop responding to Azorus?!
he/she has their opinion, and they're welcome to it...even if it is wrong. try looking at it like this:

one well armed quad out on patrol when a fire alert is relayed from a local watch tower/ranger outpost/whatever zips over to the fire line and begins laying down suppressant while other units are dispatched. ALL THIS while the main force units are loaded up and prepped for the main assault. Gee. Imagine that. Having something, ANYTHING, on the ground fighting the fire while it's still relatively small. NO, NO...before you say it, a small quad is WUH-HUH-HUH-HAAAAAYYYY faster and more manueverable than it's larger more ferocious cousins. Not to mention the FACT: AN ARMORED AND ARMED ATV COSTS A LOT LESS THAN A TRICKED OUT 747, WHICH BY THE WAY, NOBODY'S BUYING

I think that this idea could save the lives of many firefighters while making their job a lot easier and safer. It's an extremely good idea.

I don't know where all the commentators for this article reside, but where I come from, we don't fight fires, we save lives and property. So lets consider that lives have been saved and we are left with the fire! We are not fighting the fire we are actually attempting to contain it! This machine would provide an added tool to the many other pieces of equipment that is needed when managing a fire zone. We have been taught that once a fire exceeds the size of a medium sized trash can or rubbish bin the approach towards the management of the fire must include but not exclusively, consider the release of dangerous gases and that the fire can escalate within 60 seconds. Firefighters will prepare the area for containment prior to the fire front ascent on the area, and or saving of property if risk to lives is minimized. Similarly, the fire front must pass before placing equipment in around the property fire zone.

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