SBC’s Type 3 Engines are smaller than the Type 1s and are primarily used for vegetation fires. During the summers they can be found almost anywhere in California as part of a Strike Team response to a major incident.

They are also used for any type of emergency in the foothills and back country where the Type 1 Engine cannot respond.

The Type 3 engine is made for the West’s vegetation fires. SBC currently has three variants of the Type 3 in service, with the majority being based on the Cal-Fire Model 14. With it’s 4 x 4 capability, it can climb hills and make it through rough terrain.

The biggest advantage of flowing water through the Type 3 is that it can do it while driving. Whereas the Type 1 engine must be put into park to flow water, the Type 3 can make “running attacks” on vegetation fires, a tactic that can help minimize the rate of spread by having a firefighter walk the edge of a fire with a hoseline and the Type 3 trailing closebehind. SBC’s Type 3 have a 500 gallon water tank and a waterous 2-stage, centrifugal pump capable of producing 500gpm @ 150 psi. It also carries a 20 gallon tank for the Class A foam injection.