A monstrousN$12.5million fire-fighting and rescue truck was unveiled last week at the City of Windhoek’s Municipal offices, adding to the existing emergency fire-fighting and rescue fleet.

Windhoek’s Emergency Management Division introduced the Bronto Sky lift F55RLX, which is equipped with compelling equipment arguably making it the ideal high-rise rescue vehicle. It can reach stranded people in sticky situations such as building tops as well as fighting high-rise building fires.

Armed with a 55 metre rescue ladder, the Sky lift has a telescopic cage boom that increases overall reach, and spits out a 1500 gallon/minute burst (25 gallons per second) at maximum height.

City of Windhoek’s Emergency Management Head of Operations Carlos Louw told Woema: “The addition of the Bronto Sky lift brings our daily-operational fleet to 16 though we have other vehicles that are (seldom) used. The vehicle itself is equipped with GPS, while the pump has two stages: a water spray and solid stream. The operator can utilize the equipment while sitting and using the controllers, manually removing the pump and adjusting it or even by remote-control and this makes it state of the art!”

It was further mentioned that such an innovative device is undoubtedly an advancement considering the closest vehicle resembling the new Bronto was an outdated 30 year old ‘1978 30m Magirius Deutz Turntable Ladder truck,’ which had a reach of a vertical 30metres.

The Sky lift is mounted on a Scania P480, boasts 480 horse-power and has an 8X4 drive-train that yields a maximum speed of around 130km/hour. However, because of its massive weight, such speeds are unlikely to be attained and are deemed dangerous.

The RLX (Ladder eXtra versatile) range is famed for its weight-height ratio that operates based on advanced plasma welding methods. Its operational versatility is reinforced by a high degree of customization with over 2000 optional features available.

It can also be mounted on almost any surface as it has pods at each end, while the maximum water capacity is 3800litres.