Airport safety officials introduce latest addition to fleet of rescue vehicles

They call it “Crash 4.” It’s the new yellow-green Rosenbauer Panther 4x4 that Bob Hope Airport fire officials recently brought into their fleet of aircraft rescue-and-firefighting vehicles.

With a price tag of more than $645,000 — about $478,000 of that reimbursable through a Federal Aviation Administration grant — the new emergency vehicle is “far superior” to its predecessor, a 1991 crash truck built by Oshkosh Corp., said Fire Chief John Scanlon during a meeting of the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority board on Monday.

For example, the Panther has forward-looking infrared onboard, which helps firefighters target hot spots with the vehicle’s foam and water turrets, operated by a joystick inside the high-tech, cockpit-like cab.

Its 35-foot ladder is also an improvement on the Oshkosh’s 20-footer, as is its 300-foot water supply line, compared to the previous Crash 4’s 50-foot line.

The Panther is the latest addition to the fleet, following an Oshkosh in 2004 and two Rosenbauers — one from 2007 and the other from 2011.

The Oshkosh it replaces will likely be sold, pending FAA approvals, and refurbished for use by a fire department elsewhere.