Inglewood Fire Brigade has welcomed the arrival of a new fire truck that will boost the brigade’s ability to serve their community.
The heavy tanker was officially handed to the CFA brigade by Martha Haylett MP over the weekend during a local festival in the town.
The dual-cab vehicle will replace the brigade’s single-cab tanker, and Inglewood Fire Brigade Captain Andrew Smith said the features of the new fire truck are fantastic.
“The safety of our members is crucial and having a larger cabin means we can have more people in the vehicle when we head to incidents,” said Captain Smith.
“There are also great crew protection features like a roll cage, spray systems, and heat protection curtains.
“It’s great to see the new heavy tanker parked inside our new station that was opened a few years ago.”
The new vehicle was funded through the Victorian Government’s CFA Capability Funding package and is one of 50 new tankers being rolled out to CFA fire brigades across Victoria to ensure volunteer firefighters are well-equipped to protect their communities.
The fleet of new dual-cab vehicles includes 48 heavy tankers and two light tankers, all of which replace single-cab tankers and allow a full crew to sit within the vehicle cabin.
CFA Chief Officer Jason Heffernan said tankers are a vital part of CFA’s fleet, with more than 1,800 across the state.
“These new tankers are state-of-the-art firefighting vehicles,” said CO Heffernan.
“The heavy tankers feature a 15-tonne crew-cab chassis with a 4,000-litre water tank, while their 4x4 capability and automatic transmission will help crews access fires in difficult terrain.
“They also include features such as electronic monitors and electric rewind hose reels, as well as using a higher percentage of recyclable build materials.”
The Heavy Tankers also have a 1200 l/min diesel engine-driven fire-fighting pump, crew/vehicle roll over and burn-over protection, and full equipment stowage cache.
18 of the Heavy Tankers have been delivered to CFA brigades across the state with the remaining 30 progressively being delivered over the next eight months.