Victorian company Bell Environmental, a family business in Sunshine which employs 50 people, will deliver 53 new CFA tankers to help with fire preparedness across the state.
Emergency Services Minister Bob Cameron today announced the Victorian company had secured government contracts worth $6.55 million to produce and deliver the new CFA tankers.
Mr Cameron handed over keys to five of the new vehicles, one each for Weerite, Simpson, Corangamite, Yea and the Region 12 Fire Brigades.
Mr Cameron said the Brumby Labor Government was taking action to make Victoria fire ready by providing the funding for the new CFA firefighting vehicles through the Special Bushfire Initiative in the 2009/10 State Budget and the 2009/10 Community Safety and Emergency Support Program (CSESP) funding.
Delivering the new tankers will also support Victoria’s manufacturing industry with each tanker comprised of 925 pieces of nuts, bolts, rivets and screws, 600 meters of wires and cables and a total of 240 hours spent on engineering, testing, fabricating and assembling.
The tankers include a 550-litre water tank, a foam system and rotating work lights.
On board, there will be a range of hose lengths, a chainsaw, fuel containers, tools and first aid kit to provide vital equipment to a total crew of two.
The body of the tankers is made from 640 kilograms of lightweight aluminium and is equipped with upgraded suspension to carry up to 3.9 tonnes.
Mr Cameron said the new fleet of Ultra Light Tankers will give CFA a total of 69 new tankers.
“An earlier contract for 16 tankers has been delivered, with those tankers now in service and well received by CFA volunteers and the community,” he said.
“The new tankers are ahead of schedule and will be progressively rolled out over the rest of this year and the first half of next year as we work together with communities, our emergency services workers and volunteers to strengthen the state’s firefighting capacity in preparation for this fire season.”
