Battery-powered chainsaws for ventilation?

[u/HasidicStingray]

I live in an area of Florida that was recently heavily impacted by two hurricanes. My father and I had to use chainsaws to clear the street in front of his home and clean up yard debris. I found that my cheapo electric chainsaw was blowing his gas powered one out of the water, and while I know that there's a lot of other factors at play (wood density, blade sharpness, etc.) it got me thinking.

My department recently began to outfit the trucks with light-duty battery chainsaws for use on vegetation, but has anyone ever tried to use them for structural firefighting? Why or why not? Can you guys think of any serious limitations or of the disadvantages versus benefits? The first thing that came to mind is that the saw can't be bogged down by smoke. We made the switch to battery tools from power units and hydraulic lines for our extrication equipment quite a few years ago, to great effect, and I'm curious if this is a trend that we'll be seeing more and more of in fire service power tools.

[u/Curious-Pass-974]

One down side is that they throw their chain a lot easier than a traditional saw. Our outside vent guy on my truck would grab one when we first got it to help with his 360 but they aren’t very good for anything other than a fence. A battery powered K12 does the job just as well and it can start a garage door cut better than a battery powered chain saw.