Gerrards Cross Fire Station's brand new Scania 94D Rescue Pump is pictured above. Click here to see our other vehicles.

28 April 2009

A new state-of-the-art fire engine has joined Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service’s fleet in Gerrards Cross.

The nine-litre Scania 94D Rescue Pump is packed with the latest firefighting and rescue equipment, bringing the total cost to around a quarter of a million pounds.

Group Manager Greg Smith said: “We have put years of work into choosing and refining the specification so that our firefighters have the best possible equipment to deal with fires, road traffic collisions and other emergency incidents.

“This enhances the safety of everyone living, working or travelling in and around the area we serve, as well as the firefighters themselves.”

The new arrival is the latest instalment in Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service's rolling programme of upgrading and standardising its fleet of front-line appliances, which has the added benefit of helping to reduce maintenance and training costs.

The appliance is fitted with a number of new features, including a compressed air foam system for a greater knock-down effect on fires, a 100-metre hose reel, a new and more comprehensive first aid and oxygen therapy kit and a new stabilisation kit for use at road traffic collisions.

Equipment stowage has been designed with the onus on firefighter health and safety. All ladders are stowed on gantries, and heavy equipment is stowed at low levels for easier manual handling. All other locker shelving has the facility to slide and tilt, making it far easier and safer to gain access to the equipment.

The fire engine it has replaced is now based at Brigade Headquarters in Aylesbury, where it will be used as a reserve vehicle when others are being serviced.

It brings the number of new Scanias in Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service's fleet of 42 front-line vehicles to 11.

Last month nearby Amersham Fire Station also took delivery of a new Scania 94D Rescue Pump – just in time to celebrate the station’s reopening following redevelopment.