Kme Firestix, model years 2012 to 2017. Filed by Kovatch Mobile Equipment Corp. and reported to NHTSA on 8 January 2020. 6 vehicles potentially affected.
What the notice says Kovatch Mobile Equipment Corp. (KME) is recalling one 2017 and certain 2012-2015 Emergency Response KME 55 FT Firestix Aerial Devices. The swing drives may not contain lubricating oil, which can cause the internal gears to become damaged and cause seizing.
Is your vehicle included? Check with your VIN at NHTSA, or ask a dealer. This page is an independent copy of the notice, kept so you can see what changed after it was published. It is not the authority, and the authority’s own text is the one to act on.
What owners ask about this recall
- Which vehicles does recall 20V006 cover?
- Kme Firestix, model years 2012-2017.
- What is wrong with them?
- Kovatch Mobile Equipment Corp. (KME) is recalling one 2017 and certain 2012-2015 Emergency Response KME 55 FT Firestix Aerial Devices. The swing drives may not contain lubricating oil, which can cause the internal gears to become damaged and cause seizing.
- What can happen if it is not put right?
- If the swing drive's internal gears become damaged or start seizing, uncontrolled movement of the ladder can occur, increasing the risk of an injury.
- Is there a fix yet?
- Yes, and it is free. KME will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the swing drives and rebuild them if they do not contain the lubricating oil, free of charge. The recall began February 25, 2020. Owners may contact KME customer service at 1-800-235-3928.
- What should I do now?
- Check your own vehicle by its VIN with NHTSA, which is the record to act on.
Answered from the register this site holds. NHTSA is the record to act on.
What the authority says can happen if this is not fixed: “If the swing drive's internal gears become damaged or start seizing, uncontrolled movement of the ladder can occur, increasing the risk of an injury.”
affected
in the notice
caught
| Campaign | 20V006 |
|---|---|
| Filed by | Kovatch Mobile Equipment Corp. |
| System at fault | Equipment |
| Reported to NHTSA | 8 January 2020 |
| Model years | 2012-2017 |
| Vehicles named | KME FIRESTIX |
What the notice says today
The consequence
If the swing drive's internal gears become damaged or start seizing, uncontrolled movement of the ladder can occur, increasing the risk of an injury.
The remedy
KME will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the swing drives and rebuild them if they do not contain the lubricating oil, free of charge. The recall began February 25, 2020. Owners may contact KME customer service at 1-800-235-3928.
What it said before
This campaign is in the register but not yet in the dated wording archive, so we cannot yet say whether its text has moved. It enters the archive on the next pass.
This is one of 2,632 notices in the record whose component field names equipment. Across that group the median wait before owners were written to was 29 days.
Last checked . No change has been recorded in the wording.
How to cite this record
Quoting the wording on this page means quoting a version, so the date belongs in the citation:
CarsMultiverse, recall 20V006, wording as read on 16 September 2026. https://carsmultiverse.com/recall/20v006/
The cross-border matches used on this site are deposited as a citable dataset: doi:10.5281/zenodo.22087136. The recall wording itself is published by the national authority named above and is theirs, not ours.
The recall record and its wording are published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and are US Government public domain. The dated archive, the comparison and any before-and-after above are CarsMultiverse. How fresh every engine behind this page is, is public on the status page. To check a specific vehicle, use NHTSA’s own VIN lookup.
Other Kme notices we hold
- 24V363: 2022-2023 Predator fire trucks
- 23V818: 2020 Severe Service, Predator, and Spartan MetroStar trucks
- 23V798: 2021-2023 Predator, Panther, and Severe Service fire trucks
- 22V607: 2021-2022 KME Predator, Panther, and Severe Service fire trucks equipped with Sheppard Steering Gears
- 21V960: 2020-2021 Predator and 2020-2022 Severe Service
- 21V905: 2022 Predator, Predator Panther and 2021-2022 Severe Service emergency
- 21V333: 2012-2021 KME Custom Chassis
- 21V100: 2001-2020 TDA tractor-drawn aerial firetrucks
All 36 Kme campaigns we hold · Every manufacturer in the record
The fingerprint of this notice
We take a SHA-256 of each of the three blocks of text the authority publishes and keep the first eight characters. As we last read campaign 20V006 on 23 August 2026, they were:
- Defect summary
840e027c - Consequence
189c0a0d - Remedy
ae1a794d
We first read this notice on 21 August 2026. It has not moved since. If it ever does, these characters will not match, and the change will be dated here.
The wording we hold for 20V006 · how the whole register is watched
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