New trucks pump up CFA response capability

THE City of Knox and surrounds received a huge fire safety boost from the State Government this month with the handover of four state-of-the-art trucks for its CFA brigades.
Ferntree Gully and The Basin were two of four Knox brigades to be given a $430,000 pumper as part of a $1.7 million investment in the eight-member Knox Fire Brigades Group.
Speaking at the handover ceremony on Sunday, 4 June, Police and Emergency Services MP Tim Holding said the trucks would help the group to better serve local communities.
“The Knox Fire Brigades Group receives more than 3000 calls for assistance each year and protects substantial industrial, commercial, residential and forest areas.
“The distribution of the pumpers among these brigades will give the CFA better scope to manage the demand for its services, providing a safe, appropriate, effective and timely response to a wide range of incidents,” he said.
Around 60 representatives from the various brigades and Knox City Council were on hand to witness the handover, at which Ferntree Gully captain John Thompson and The Basin captain Colin Killian were given keys to their new pumper, along with their Scoresby and Bayswater counterparts.
CFA Knox group officer Alan Small said the handover represented a modernisation of the brigades’ equipment, with old pumpers moved on to make way for the state-of-the-art vehicles.
Mr Small said the new pumpers boasted better safety systems and better brakes than the models the brigades traded in.
They also carry more water, have a greater pumping capacity and can run in automatic mode.
“The Ferntree Gully pumper also has some other features that are being trialed, and subject to their success other pumpers will go along that line.
“It’s a good result. Knox has been very lucky and appreciative to receive them, but we have the number of calls to demonstrate the need,” Mr Small said.