Have you seen our new rapid intervention vehicles?

HFRS had the opportunity to repurpose two rapid intervention vehicles from Heathrow Airport Fire Service who had bought them in December 2020, but soon realised they were not suitable for the use they had initially identified. This provided an ideal opportunity for the Service to trial them for identified requirements following consultation feedback and review of our Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP) in late 2020, as well as a review of Service fleet in 2021.

Steve Topham Director of Emergency Response said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to progress an identified need following a public consultation and review of our key planning documents on having vehicles which offer us more flexibility in a compact vehicle in our front-line emergency response and will be beneficial for certain types of incidents and locations, such as On-Call fire stations.

“They offer the potential for a quicker response to certain categories of incident, while allowing for a more dynamic crewing model and protects fire cover in other areas by reducing demand on neighbouring stations for specific categories of incident. They are a great asset to our fleet and for responding to 999 incidents, helping to keep our communities safe.”

Some key specifications of these vehicles are:

• 5.5 tonne Gross Weight
• Spacious airconditioned four door crew cab with seating for four (includes driver).
• Turbocharged Mercedes 190bhp engine with 6 speed gear box.
• PTO driven Rosenbauer pump.
• Pump hours – 21 hours.
• A 600-litre capacity water tank.
• High pressure hose reel - fitted with 22mm high pressure hose.
• Full clean cab with BA (Breathing Apparatus) stowage in rear lockers.
• Siren/PA system.