On the second day of this year’s press conference in Ulm, Magirus presents FireBull; another solution ready for series production in the field of off-road and forest fire engines. Magirus CEO Marc Diening presents the unrivalled tracked fire engine to journalists, partners and invited guests on the company’s own test site: “The forest fire incidents of recent years have shown the high demand among fire departments and emergency services for effective and technically developed solutions. This is precisely where the FireBull comes in: It transports high payloads with minimum ground pressure over the most difficult terrain, ensuring maximum extinguishing power, and safety for the emergency services at the same time.”
In its choice of chassis, Magirus remains true to its tradition of focussing on proven and practical solutions, which are reliable and durable, developed by leading manufacturers. The “PowerBully” brand from Kässbohrer Geländefahrzeug AG is one of the global market leaders in tracked vehicles. Executive Jens Rottmair is sure of the result of the cooperation: “More than 50 years of successful development expertise have gone into the PowerBully as well as plenty of practical experience in operational and logistics deployments in extremely rough terrain. All of this comes together with Magirus’ know-how and experience in firefighting superstructures and extinguishing technology to create a long-range off-road special vehicle for fire departments and disaster control.”
The PowerBully 18 T chassis with an engine power of 231 kW (310 PS) has a gross vehicle weight of 30,000 kg and reaches a speed of around 10 km/h. With an operating weight of around 26 tonnes, the vehicle has sufficient spare capacity for individual needs and equipment. Where wheeled vehicles reach their limits, the caterpillar drive provides the necessary agility combined with a high level of driving comfort - regardless of the surface. Thanks to its high payload with low ground pressure of only 0.300 kg/cm² - 30 times less ground pressure than a 6x6 truck - and a fording depth of 1,400 mm, it can be used not only in impassable terrain but also in peat fires, ground fires, smouldering fires or in swampy areas.
With a climbing performance of 31°(60%) and a maximum inclination across the slope of up to 21°(40%), the FireBull transports water or the required logistics safely up and down slopes. In the FireBull AirCore version, in addition to a 10,000 litre extinguishing agent tank (9,000 litres of water, 1,000 litres of foam agent), the AirCore MFT35-H extinguishing turbine with a capacity of up to 3,500 litres per minute is also available. The water mist technology enables efficient firefighting and humidification of the vegetation as well as high penetration depths into the vegetation. The water can be discharged while driving in Pump & Roll mode. In addition to a C-connection at the front, self-protection nozzles and heat protection on the underbody ensure maximum safety for the crew. At the same time, the concept offers a wide range of options, such as larger tank volumes and turbine variants, in order to be optimally equipped for the respective conditions.
With the FireBull, Magirus once again demonstrates its extensive expertise in the field of special vehicles and rounds off its comprehensive portfolio of off-road and forest fire-fighting vehicles with another powerful innovation. The FireBull will be on display at the FLORIAN trade fair in Dresden from 8th to 10th October 2020.
