CFA’s fleet of heavy pumpers will be modified to accommodate new equipment as part of the Road Crash Rescue Support Project.
The modifications are necessary to accommodate new battery-powered road rescue and other equipment which replaces all petrol-powered equipment (with the exception of the disc cutter), as well as to maintain standard stowage across the fleet.
The biggest changes brigades will see are to the forward driver and passenger side lockers. During prototype development each locker was completely gutted and stripped back to its outer body shell.
The lockers now substantially mirror the layout of CFA’s 12 new heavy pumpers, built by Bell Environmental. The modification team re-used components to rebuild the lockers to the new layout where they could, but a lot has had to be made from new.
Fleet Project Manager Peter Hill said the changes had been challenging to manage but the working party had done a great job.
“We have had to work with both the SEM and Mills Tui body designs to come up with some clever ways of stowing the new equipment,” Peter said.
“A lot of thought has gone into systems of work to ensure that our firefighters can have confidence in how the vehicle stowage is laid out.”
Peter said some additional features common to the new heavy pumper would also be introduced.
“These include a new electric BA pantograph bracket, a duplicate warning lamp panel which also includes an alley lamp switch, a new roof mounted air horn, and some tweaking of the rear lockers for improved access and stowage layout,” Peter said.
The work is being undertaken by QuikCorp who are a new supplier to CFA. QuikCorp are well known in the industry and were responsible for the build-up of DELWP’s fleet of new Unimogs and G-Wagons.
“With final approval of both SEM and Mills Tui prototypes, it is full steam ahead modifying the rest of the heavy pumper fleet,” Peter said.
Modification of CFA’s existing heavy pumpers is expected to commence in early December and take approximately 18 months to complete. In addition to vehicle upgrades, the Road Rescue Support Project includes training aligned to the new equipment.