wo new fire engines will be deployed at Wokingham and Windsor Fire Stations, following an official handover from the Royal Berkshire Fire Authority (RBFA).
The handovers will take place on Wednesday, 14 August, from 10:30am outside Wokingham Town Hall and Friday, 16 August at 2:30pm in Windsor Royal Shopping Centre.
The events will consist of an official handover of the keys to each crew by Councillor Angus Ross, Royal Berkshire Fire Authority’s Lead Member for Strategic Assets. One of Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service’s (RBFRS) Specialist Equipment Officers will also talk through some of the features of the new engines, and members of RBFRS’s local safety team will be on hand to talk to members of the public about how they can stay safe.
The fire engines have been brought in following a joint procurement project between RBFRS, Buckinghamshire & Milton Keynes and Oxfordshire County Council Fire and Rescue Service, which delivered the first set of fire engines to the Thames Valley two years ago, followed by three more to Newbury and Slough Fire Stations last year.
The new fire engines have been built by Emergency One (UK) Ltd on Volvo FL 42R chassis, and are part of RBFRS’s programme to modernise its aging fleet with state of the art vehicles, designed for current needs and incorporating the latest technology.
They offer a range of improved capabilities for Wokingham and Windsor’s firefighters, including:
- Larger hose reels that enable water to be delivered more quickly to extinguish fires.
- Battery-powered rescue equipment, primarily for use at road traffic incidents. This is easier to carry and less bulky than hydraulic equipment, less hazardous and removes generator noise from rescue situations. The equipment is also much quicker to deploy, reducing the time to access and rescue people who are trapped and injured.
- Improved mobile lighting for better visibility at the scene of an incident.
- A more comfortable seating area for crews. This is especially important as firefighters are typically spending more time in the fire engine, completing prevention work such as Safe and Well visits
- The fire engines will include a standardised inventory across Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire – making it easier for our firefighters to ensure a swift and effective response when called to emergencies where two Services are in attendance.
Councillor Ross said: “Following the success of the new fire engines at Newbury Fire Station last year, and four other stations prior to that, I am delighted that Windsor and Wokingham Fire Stations are next in line for these updated engines, which I am sure will benefit their local communities for many years to come.
“I would like to thank our officer team, together with our colleagues at Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service and Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service, for developing a state of the art specification which has enabled the incorporation of many new features to improve the capabilities for our firefighters and to build in the opportunity for greater collaboration between services. This has enabled us to better equip our staff and further improve the service we offer to our communities across Royal Berkshire.”