|
FIRE MINISTER Parmjit Dhanda has announced that the fleet of heavy-duty vehicles that fire and rescue services in England use to transport New Dimension equipment around the country during emergencies is to be extended.
Some 48 vehicles (known as prime movers) are being distributed to brigades, adding to the 150 such vehicles already available. The vehicles will be used to transport specialist equipment – including mass decontamination and urban search and rescue (USAR) kit, and high-volume pumping equipment – to deal with major incidents.
Commenting on the move, the Fire Minister said the additional lorries – which cost £7m – will help brigades respond ‘even more quickly and flexibly to the largest-scale incidents. These are the same type of vehicles to those used to great effect in the June and July 2007 floods to transport high-volume pumps and, more recently, to transport USAR equipment to the Warwickshire warehouse fire’.
The Chief Fire Officers’ Association (CFOA) has welcomed the new equipment, saying that the vehicles will
be beneficial for flooding incidents as well as incidents involving collapsed buildings. Terry Standing of CFOA said that such investment further reinforces the success of partnerships between central and local government.
|