Roll-out of new fire and rescue vehicles across Norfolk - including at Downham Market
Four additional tactical fire response vehicles have rolled into Norfolk as part of a multi-million-pound investment.
The investment by Norfolk County Council to modernise the fire and rescue fleet has seen four Toyota Hilux 4x4s purchased to enable firefighters to quickly attend isolated locations and deal with emergencies in spate weather conditions.
Cllr Margaret Dewsbury, the authority’s cabinet member for communities and partnerships, said: “These smaller vehicles are particularly useful in getting emergency workers on scene quickly to fires in isolated locations, such as forests and clifftops, and to incidents of flooding and deep snow or ice.
“Large fire engines cannot always access such locations easily, and so firefighters in these vehicles can begin tackling wildfires with misting units or start to help a person needing medical care at the scene of an isolated incident while awaiting further resources.”
At a cost of £175,000, the new fully equipped vehicles, complete with misting units, will be located at Downham as well as Reepham, Acle and North Walsham from early in the New Year.
They will join the fleet already in service at Sandringham, Cromer, Wymondham, Diss and Gorleston, plus a Land Rover at Thetford.
The investment is the latest move to provide specialist equipment for Norfolk and comes in addition to the recent £7million investment of 22 new fire appliances, which replace an ageing fleet which had come to the end of its working life.
Hitting the road over the last 18 months, the new type B Angloco vehicles are now at many fire stations - including Lynn, Fakenham and Downham.
Two others are also in service assisting with training and duty cover. This month, the completion of the project means the final ones have now gone to their home stations.
Anthony White, assistant chief fire officer, said: “We are grateful for the investment in modernising our service and to those involved in the project to bring in so many new vehicles in such a short time.
“This work will be ongoing next year as we are committed to giving our teams the best equipment possible to ensure they can do their job efficiently and safely for Norfolk.”
A new 45-metre Bronto Skylift Aerial Ladder Platform vehicle is also now in service, based at North Earlham Fire Station. Its previous vehicle has now been moved to the Lynn North station. This represents an investment of nearly £1million.
New wildfire personal protective equipment was recently introduced to enable firefighters the right protection, but in a more lightweight form, when dealing with intense fires in the hot summer.
Further investment in fleet and equipment, to ensure crews have the best possible resources for all the types of emergencies they face, will be coming into service within the next two years.
This includes plans for updated vans for the service’s nine hydrant and area technicians, to enable them to have reliable vehicles which contain all they need when out on site.
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