Town crew’s new fire engine is hot stuff

It forms part of an £8m investment by Lincolnshire Fire and rescue Service to make local firefighters among the best equipped and best protected in the country.

it will mainly be used by the part-time ‘on-call’ crew but will sometimes be manned by the full-time crew when necessary.

The new scania vehicle was received by Watch Manager Kerry Raynor from Group Manager Matthew Perrin who handed over the keys watched by some of the on-call crew.

It has taken around three years to update the equipment available to Lincolnshire firefighters.

The fire crews will also have state-of-the-art “Coldcut Cobra” units. The system emits a mixture of water and iron filings through a special nozzle at around 400mph which can cut through walls, steel and concrete up to 11in thick, leaving tiny holes. The cutting agent is then turned off before a fine mist of water is released onto fires.

This significantly reduces the temperature around a fire without the need to enter the building, allowing firefighters to gain entry more quickly and safely. The hole created is so small, no oxygen reaches the fire, helping efforts to extinguish it.

Group manager Dave Hopkins said: “This equipment enables us to be more effective in fighting fires, with the situation more quickly controlled. That leads to a drastic reduction in water damage to homes.

“Most importantly, it will keep our firefighters safer because they can control the temperature before they enter a building. It has more than delivered on what we expected and will certainly save lives.”

The new Scania fire appliance boasts a reduced carbon footprint through lower emissions, wider hose reels, increasing water flow capacity, longer roof ladders and additional road collision equipment for rescues from difficult places.

They will also carry on-board charging for radios, thermal-imaging cameras and torches