CFAfiring up car

By Tania Martin
KALORAMA Fire Brigade is working with Nissan Australia to improve its bushfire response vehicle after experiencing weight-constraint problems.
The bushfire response vehicle, known as a slip-on, is used as the primary response unit by strike teams.
Kalorama CFA’s Captain Bill Robinson said the fire brigade had been looking at the new Nissan Nivara Dual Cab as a possible replacement.
Capt Robinson said the CFA currently uses Toyota Hylix’s as its slip-on vehicle, which has the same configuration as the Nissan Nivara, but can’t hold as much weight.
“The problem we have with the Toyota Hilux is it’s overloaded,” he said.
“With only a one-tonne weight capacity, the vehicle can only carry two passengers and 200 litres of water.”
Capt Robinson said the Nivara would be able to carry up to four firefighters and 400 litres of water, which would be much safer for firefighters.
Nissan Australia production manager for commercial vehicles, Andrew Dempsey, said Kalorama CFA first approached Nissan in August last year.
He said the CFA pointed out its problems with weight constraints and that Nissan’s engineers in Spain had been working on solving the problems.
Mr Dempsey said Nissan had loaned a Nivara to the brigade during December to test it out and see if the vehicle was suitable for their needs.
Capt Robinson said with the new vehicle, a strike team would be able to carry 400 litres of water, plus one person navigating the course, one driving, and one on radio communication.
He said usually a strike team has five fire trucks following it into a bushfire.
The Kalorama brigade was now pushing for the CFA to approve the Nivara across Victoria.
But Capt Robinson said the CFA wants the brigades to use a Land Rover Defender, which he said was “horrible” to drive and costs $64,000.