Two weeks of training will give firefighters on the ground at Cyril E. King Airport a chance to learn all the features of a new OshKosh Global Striker 4×4 aircraft and rescue truck, that comes fully equipped with everything from a state of the art fire suppression hose to inside-the-cab technology, that will soon be in operation on St. Thomas.
According to V.I. Port Authority Fire Chief Derek Smith, the authority’s aircraft rescue and fire trucks are replaced in 10 to 15 year intervals, and the Global Striker will take over for another in the fleet that will be coming out of rotation.
During a training session with OshKosh at the airport Monday, Smith said the Striker is part of the “newest generation” of aircraft rescue and firefighting trucks, which are specially equipped with a Snozzle that sprays both water and foam from its nozzles.
“When the older generation of trucks came in, the Snozzle was just being designed, but since then, the patent for it has been sold and the company (OshKosh) has turned it into what it is now,” Smith said.