The St. Paul Fire Department is adding an electric truck to its fleet — but not until 2024

The St. Paul Fire Department will be the first in Minnesota to buy a fully electric fire truck — it just won't hit the road for a while.

The $1.8 million truck is expected to join the fleet at the end of 2024, and will be stationed at Fire Station 7 on the city's East Side after building renovations are complete.

The purchase — which city officials started exploring in 2019 — is a step in the city's Climate Action & Resilience Plan, which aims to reach carbon neutrality in city operations by 2030. So far, St. Paul has made investments in electrifying passenger trucks that the Parks and Recreation and Public Works departments use. The new fire truck is the first attempt at doing the same with larger vehicles, according to Chief Resilience Officer Russ Stark.

"These vehicles are the next frontier," Stark said. "This is just the beginning of the next 10 years where we will serve the community while using clean energy."

Fire Chief Butch Inks said there has been some skepticism toward the new vehicles among fire departments, which he chalks up to a desire to stick to tradition. He has met with other departments to talk about electric fire trucks and try to counter the pushback, he said.

In addition to energy efficiency, electric fire trucks boost the health and safety of firefighters, Inks said. Exposure to fumes from traditional diesel trucks idling in station garages is tied to increased cancer rates among firefighters, and electric trucks would help minimize that risk, he said.

"Firefighter health and wellness is a huge initiative of ours," Inks said. "There may be some skeptics about electric vehicles, but who's skeptical about improving the health and wellness of anybody?"

Electric fire trucks are also significantly quieter than the current vehicles, making communication easier during fire responses.

Rosenbauer, an Austrian fire truck manufacturing company, is constructing an RTX model for St. Paul that will be completed at its production plant in Wyoming, Minn. The trucks typically take 18 to 19 months to complete. The city plans to pay for the truck with a combination of city and federal money.

The price tag for an RTX fire truck is roughly double that of a diesel vehicle, but electric vehicles cost less to fuel and maintain. Electric fire trucks save about $25,000 in fuel costs each year, according to Stark.

Inks said the department is open to adding more electric fire trucks to the fleet in the future, and he hopes that other fire departments in Minnesota invest in them as well.

"Somebody has to take the leap, and that's what we are," Inks said. "We want to be first to prove this out, and hopefully others follow."