The biggest change to firefighting in decades has finally arrived in Canberra - but it comes at a cost.
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And a few administrative glitches which will keep it out of operational service for months.
The Emergency Services Agency's new Austrian-built, hybrid-electric fire pumper is the first right-hand drive machine of its type in the southern hemisphere.
It costs about twice the price - $1.5 million - of a conventional diesel fire pumper but brings with it a huge change to "old school" firefighting, including the capability to send a thermal-imaging drone out through the roof to seek out fire hot spots from above, and a positive pressure ventilation system filtered to keep the cabin free of ingress from smoke and contaminants.
It can even "crab-walk" sideways to get around traffic jams, thanks to its four-wheel steering and all-wheel drive.
This time last year, the World Health Organisation declared firefighting to be a Group 1 cancer-causing profession, which has major implications for how agencies like ESA equip their future fleets.
The ACT's new zero-emissions pumper is the first step in better protecting its frontline officers and every fire service in the country is eager to get a closer look at what it does, and how it does it.
"It [the new hybrid-electric pumper] is a game changer in every way for us and there is a huge amount of interest," Chief Fire Officer Matt Mavity said.
"There is technology in this truck which even I can't talk about."
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The new truck's bodywork is mostly built of aluminium, with two massive battery packs to provide the primary motive power.
Providing the back-up to repower the batteries on the move or at a fire scene is a big 3-litre BMW diesel engine hidden inside. When the battery power drops to 20 per cent, the diesel engine kicks in as the recharger, effectively providing a driving range of up to 1000km.
The arrival of the new truck also marks the start of the agency's transition away from using hydraulic power for all its lighting and rescue cutting tasks. All the future equipment used remotely by firefighters - including the "jaws of life" used to cut people out of car wrecks - will be battery-electric.
But there's tech employed here of which the federal department of transport doesn't yet approve, so the truck can't be registered and the ACT number plates are only for show.
There are no conventional side mirrors on the pumper - all the rear vision is via an imbedded camera system. These are not approved yet under Australian Design Rules.
Firefighters will need to be retrained on the new features and different equipment, and rechargers installed at all fire stations which can handle the extra power load.
"There's a lot of things we still have to work through but it's been a very collaborative journey," Mr Mavity said.
The fire truck collects data constantly and all this is of keen interest to the ESA and the manufacturers, Rosenbauer, which have a production backlog on these vehicles of almost two years as fire services around the world clamour to get in the queue.
ESA Commissioner Georgeina Whelan was at the launch of the new fire truck but gave only a brief statement and did not take questions.
She faced fierce criticism from ambulance workers last week for her "dictatorial" leadership style after the Transport Workers Union called for the ACT Ambulance Service to be devolved from the Emergency Services Agency into a standalone statutory authority.
The working relationship between the Commissioner, the Justice and Community Safety directorate and ambulance workers was described as "toxic".
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