Huonville Fire Brigade – New Tanker

Wednesday, 27 May 2009

[6.19 p.m.]

Madam Deputy Speaker, with the onset of climate change and the advent of more severe weather events the demands placed on the Tasmanian Fire Service is likely to increase in the future. As such, it is important to provide the TFS with the best tools and resources possible to undertake their work. It was my pleasure, therefore, this Monday to hand over the keys to a brand new 3.1P pumper tanker to the Huonville Fire Brigade.

This vehicle was designed and fabricated by the TFS at their engineering services complex at Cambridge. A total of 30 of this type of vehicle will be manufactured and placed in service statewide. Features of the new pumper tanker include

• the capacity to carry a crew of five;
• a 3 000-litre water capacity;
• capacity to carry four breathing apparatus sets;
• capacity to carry large quantities of both A- and B-class foam concentrate;
• four-wheel drive capability;
• increased locker volume;
• ergonomic equipment access;
• wheel protection sprays; and
• a large pump capacity which exceeds that of the previous medium pumpers.

This design has received accolades from mainland fire services and is regarded as potentially one of the most versatile and multifunctional in the nation. The vehicle has been designed in consultation with Tasmania Fire Service personnel, which helped to ensure that it better suited their requirements. The Tasmania Fire Service is now moving from the development of mixed vehicle types to a more production-line approach, which has resulted in significant cost savings and economies of scale. As the new pump tankers are rolled out to high-use brigades there will be flow-on benefits as replaced vehicles are transferred to other brigades.

Whilst I am on the subject of firefighting, I would also like to acknowledge the selfless contribution of Tasmania's 4 000 volunteer firefighters, many of whom have provided decades of service for very little reward other than the opportunity to serve the community. I particularly want to thank those volunteers who have recently assisted in Victoria.

As a volunteer firefighter myself with the Sandford Fire Brigade, I understand the amount of training that is required, the difficulty of dragging myself out of bed for that 3 a.m. call, and also the tedious and dirty work involved in mopping up after even a relatively small fire. The Tasmania Fire Service would barely be viable without our hardworking volunteers and it is for them, as well as our professional firefighters, that we should provide the best working conditions and therefore the best equipment. My congratulations also go to TFS Engineering Services for manufacturing this new class of firefighting vehicle.