The NSW Government has rolled out $1.7 million worth of new fire trucks to Rural Fire Service brigades on the Central Coast and in Lake Macquarie.
The keys to six new fire tankers were handed over to Cooranbong Rural Fire Brigade (Pumper), Lake Munmorah Rural Fire Brigade (Category 9 appliance), Wyee Point Rural Fire Brigade (Category 1 appliance), Brisbane Waters Rural Fire Brigade (Category 7 appliance), Central Coast Bulk Water (Category 6 appliance) and Killcare Rural Fire Brigade (Category 9 appliance).
Minister for Emergency Services and Resilience and Minister for Flood Recovery Steph Cooke joined Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast Adam Crouch and RFS Commissioner Rob Rogers at Charmhaven to officially hand over the keys.
“The rollout of new and refurbished tankers right across NSW will help to ensure volunteers and staff from the RFS have access to the best resources when protecting communities from the threat of fire,” Steph Cooke said.
“The NSW Government has committed $67.9 million to support firefighting tanker replacement and safety retrofits in response to the NSW Bushfire Inquiry following the 2019-20 Black Summer bush fires.”
Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter Taylor Martin said it was important for volunteer firefighters to have access to the equipment they need to carry out their important work.
“While the previous tankers served our firefighters well, I know that these state-of-the-art tankers will prove to be invaluable,” Taylor Martin said.
Commissioner Rogers said brigades in the RFS’s Central Coast District are incredibly busy and respond to around 2,000 incident calls each year.
“With a fleet consisting of 108 vehicles, it’s important the newest and safest equipment is provided for our brigades to best serve the communities across the Central Coast and Lake Macquarie,” Commissioner Rogers said.
Image Greg Piper MP Facebook page