Asheville Fire Department Puts New Rescue 3 Truck Into Service

The Asheville Fire Department put its new Rescue 3 into service at Fire Station 3 on Oregon Avenue, deploying a 2024 KME tractor-drawn walk-around rescue truck that drew enough industry attention to serve as a flagship showcase vehicle at FDIC 2025, one of the nation's premier firefighting conferences.

The truck, built by Kovatch Mobile Equipment Corp. on a KME Severe Service MFD chassis, is now stationed at 50 Oregon Ave and seats six in a flat roof cab. It features a tiller cab with sliding doors, rear ladder tunnel storage, and five 20-inch-deep compartments on top, giving crews expanded equipment access across vehicle extrications, technical rescues, and EMS calls. KME, a subsidiary of publicly traded REV Group, Inc., displayed the Asheville rig at FDIC 2025, held April 10-12, 2025, as one of its headline apparatus.

The tractor-drawn configuration is a deliberate operational choice rooted in Asheville's geography. Much of downtown was built in the 1920s, and that preserved streetscape creates real constraints for full-size apparatus. The tractor-drawn format's shorter wheelbase and tighter turning radius allow crews to navigate those blocks more safely, a priority the department has built into its apparatus strategy for years.

Rescue 3 is housed at a station with considerable history. Fire Station 3 at Oregon Avenue has operated at that location since August 1979, when it replaced an original station built between 1922 and 1923. The AFD itself dates to 1882, making it one of North Carolina's longest-serving fire departments.

The department handles approximately 21,000 calls per year, split roughly evenly between fire and EMS, across 45 square miles with a $26 million annual operating budget and 286 paid career firefighters across 12 stations. It holds an ISO rating of 2, among the highest achievable, reflecting the operational depth that makes Rescue 3's deployment possible.

The new truck is part of a broader capital expansion planned alongside Fire Station 13 and two new engines, an effort shaped largely by former Chief Scott Burnette, who led the department from 2009 until his retirement in 2023 and now serves as Executive Director of the NC Association of Fire Chiefs. Deputy Chief Chris Budzinski and Assistant Chiefs Barry Hendren and Michael Coggins are carrying that expansion forward.

With Rescue 3 online, the AFD's specialty operations, including Hazmat, Rescue, Rapid Intervention Teams, and Wildland firefighting, now have an apparatus built specifically for the terrain and streets Asheville firefighters work every shift.