Currently in Arizona, a massive wildfire is spreading out of control, consuming almost 400,000 acres in a wind-whipped conflagration that shows no signs of being contained. One of the most difficult aspects of controlling such a huge fire is getting to the fire in the first place, as eastern Arizona is not exactly the most accessible of places. It’s an uphill battle as brave firefighters from across the southwest fight the flames.
Too bad they don’t have this Raptor Fire Truck with them. Jalopnik reports that this off-road-beast-turned-firefighter is part of the San Diego County Fire Department Battalion 5, and is specially equipped for fighting fires in hard-to-reach places.
The Ford Raptor is easily the most capable off-road truck ever built by an OEM, with events like the Baja 1,000 and Dakar Rally in mind. With a 6.2 liter V8 engines under the hood, its got lots of guts and plenty of power for going places where there are no roads. The Raptor is specifically used for reaching small rural areas where there may be fires or, more likely, injured pedestrians from some off-roading-gone-wrong.
And while it may seem like a waste of government resources to go buying a “sport truck,” the Raptor actually makes a whole lot of sense as an emergency response vehicle. Think about it; what other vehicle has the F-150’s legendary durability, combined with SVT’s ability to wrong out all the performance possible from these bad boys? We know that if we’re ever in trouble, we’d be more than happy to see a Ford Raptor coming to our rescue.