The Bulldog 4x4 Extreme Firefighting Brush Truck can carry 2,000 gallons of water or foam way the heck off the beaten path, and then blast it onto a blaze without anybody getting out of the cab. And visually, it’s pretty much the rolling incarnation of your childhood vehicular dreams.
This machine is a Howe & Howe Engineering product. You know, the guys that build luxury tanks you can go hog wild with for $300,000.
The Bulldog isn’t really meant for recreational purposes even though it sort of looks like a toy. It’s made for working in rough and rural areas where such a machine might be needed in disaster relief, heavy rescue, or wildland firefighting.
A 2,000 gallon water capacity isn’t enough to arrest a real forest fire; the big cannon on the top of a regular firetruck could spit all that out in a few short minutes. But even if the Bulldog’s hosing capacities are limited to brush fires, the vehicle’s 25” ground clearance, 4WD, 15,000 pound winch and 80-gallon fuel capacity gives it more flexibility in rescue situations than many other vehicles would have.
The Bulldog can also be set up to pump from a hydrant or another water supply, or just run duty as a heavy utility vehicle. It’s just a beautiful thing to be hold no matter what it’s carrying.
Contact the author at andrew@jalopnik.com.