County council leaders have given the go-ahead to buy up to a dozen new fire engines for Gloucestershire.
Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service’s engine fleet is ageing and 20 front line vehicles will need to be replaced over the next five years.
And to help meet that target, Gloucestershire County Council cabinet members have today (June 23) given their approval to replace up to 12 fire engines with more eco-friendly vehicles over the next three years.
The council already has £3,722,521 of funding available for the purchase which will include the fire engines along with their chassis, bodywork and equipment.
The vehicles will be procured using the existing National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) emergency response vehicle framework agreement.
Public protection, parking and libraries cabinet member Dave Norman said if the fire engines were not replaced there would be “a real risk that these vehicles could suffer terminal failure due to their age exposing the service and the public to unacceptable level of risk”.
“36 per cent of our current appliances are above the NFCC recommended life cycle of 12 years. And of that, 17 per cent are above 15 years old.
“By removing 12 very old, more polluting Euro 4 and 5 engine vehicles over the next three years and replacing them with more efficient Euro 6 engines this will reduce the nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, particulate matter emissions produced across our fleet.”
Cabinet unanimously backed the recommendation to purchase the new vehicles.
