New Fire Appliances For West Sussex

West Sussex County Council plans to spend around £800,000 on eight new fire fighting vehicles.

The council has a rolling programme of fleet replacement and, with some of its vehicles being 25 years old, the purchase of the new wildfire, wade-capable, off-road light pumping appliances has become necessary.

The decision to launch the procurement process was taken by Duncan Crow, cabinet member for community support, fire & rescue, on Wednesday (July 23), with the contract expected to be awarded in October.

A report from Gary Ball, Interim Chief Fire Officer, said:

“The fleet is ageing, with the oldest vehicles now being more than 25 years old. 

"A well-managed replacement programme is essential as older vehicles require higher maintenance costs and present higher incidents of defects and failure rates, unavailability of critical replacement parts which presents an operational risk when responding to emergency incidents.”

Much of West Sussex is made up of open countryside, which medium and heavy fire engines would have a job traversing.

Without these lighter vehicles, large rural areas would be inaccessible, leaving gaps in the coverage provided by the Fire Service.

They are also critical when responding to water-related incidents, such as flooding.

The replacement vehicles will have improved fire-fighting technology, operate a ‘clean-cab concept’ that reduces firefighters’ exposure to contaminants, and meet higher Euro 6 emission standards with reduced fuel consumption.

The £800,000 has already been budgeted for in the Fleet Capital Replacement Programme.