This equipment is required to operate off-road in the most extreme of Florida's environments, routinely on hot, dirty and smoky wildfires in swamps, forests and sandhills.
Brush Patrol Wildland Fire Engine
The Brush Patrol (Wildland Fire Engine) is used for deep woods penetration in the direct suppression of wildfires and to protect structures in the wildland/urban interface. The Brush Patrol is also used as a standby unit during prescribed burning for landowners who utilize Florida Forest Service assistance programs, and for prescribed burning on state land. These special pumper units are fabricated at our Central Shop to meet our special firefighting requirements.
Bumper Dozer
The bumper dozer clears a firebreak between plantation rows.
Fireline Plow
The Fireline Plow is used in conjunction with the Medium and Heavy Crawler tractors to establish a clear line (fuel break) around the wildfire for suppression of wildfire.
Mowers
The 333E Compact Track Mulcher has a 100 Hp tier four engine. It has low ground pressure and high ground clearance. Features a metered mulching head to prevent stalling and uniform particle size. Used for light duty fuel reduction and clearing with high reach capabilities. Rear mounted winch to assist with self recovery.
The Gyro-Trac is effective at creating fire lines in swamps and for fuel reduction in dry areas.
Medium Crawler Tractor
The Medium Crawler Tractor is the Florida Forest Service's primary on-the-ground firefighting piece of equipment. The Tractors can scrape a fire break 8'-10' wide in most vegetation types in Florida to stop an oncoming wildfire before it can reach homes and other high valued property and resources.
The Medium Crawler Tractor enables the wildland firefighters to reach deep into the woods to suppress fires that are inaccessible by other means.
It is also used as a preventative management tool to assist landowners by scraping fire breaks on their land before a fire occurs and in preparation for prescribed burning. This size tractor has been used very effectively for clearing roads and yards following Hurricanes Andrew and Erin, and other weather events.
Heavy Dozer
The Heavy Dozer is used for suppression of wildfires in areas of the state with extremely heavy vegetation not accessible with a Medium Crawler Tractor, and to protect structures in the wildland/urban interface. The Heavy Dozer is also used for road clearing and repair during major disasters, for road clearing and repair on state lands, and to establish firelines for private landowners who utilize the Florida Forest Service assistance program.
This FEPP Cat D-7 is the largest dozer on Florida Forest Service inventory and is used to expand the size of fire lines.
CAT D5M Push Dozer
The CAT D5M "Push Dozer" is primarily used to widen fire lines.
Type VI Engines
Florida Forest Service Type VI Engines come with 300 to 500 gallon water tanks and foam capabilities.
Transport Trucks
Transport
The Transport is a large flat-bed truck with ramps. It is the mainstay of the wildfire protection and state land management transportation fleet.
The Transport carries the Medium Crawler Tractor-Plow unit which is the Florida Forest Service's primary "on-the-ground" wildfire suppression equipment. These trucks carry the tractor-plow units over a wide array of on and off road conditions to bring the firefighting equipment as close to the fire as possible.
The Transport is also used for moving materials and supplies to manage state lands and to evacuate people during disasters throughout the state.
Truck-Tractor
Truck-Tractors are used with a lowboy trailer for carrying a Heavy Crawler Tractor and other various fire support equipment and supplies in the suppression of wildfires. The Truck-Tractor is also used to transport refrigerated seedling vans, emergency command and communication trailers, water tenders and other agencies emergency response trailers.
Water Handling Equipment
Units like this 6200 gallon tank, pump, & turret are used to fight fires along roads and to fill smaller wildland engines.
This 2500 gallon Tracked Tank can be pulled over soft ground by a dozer and can be equipped with a pump or be a tender for brush trucks.
A Bladder Tank
This low profile 1000 gallon tank and pump mounted on a 6x6 is versatile for fighting fires and for mop up.
