Member for Goulburn Pru Goward and Minister for Police and the Minister for Emergency Services Troy Grant handed over the keys of the new truck to Captain Glenn Bonomini on Friday, December 7.

The tanker which is designed for highly efficient bushfire fighting, would be used alongside the unit’s other vehicle, a Type 2 Urban Pumper primary rescue equipped rig, which will continue to be used for rescue operations. 

The vehicle, which is worth $345,000 is part of a program of fleet replacement in FRNSW, said Mr Grant.

“FRNSW do their own fit out and design so it’s fairly innovative.”

The rig would work in a bush and urban interface to protect people and homes from severe bushfire while providing optimal safety for personnel. 

It has the capacity to extinguish fires without leaving the cabin, and the cabin is better equipped to provide a last line of defence for crews than the Class 2 vehicle was.

“There are water jets attached to the right and left hand side of the front cab that would extinguish a grass fire without anyone being out of the cabin,” Mr Bonomini said. 

In an emergency situation where crews had to stop and shield themselves inside the cabin the addition of water jets is an added layer of protection for the crew.

Water jets above the tyres would also allow for access in areas that have been burned out, these were previously inaccessible because the tyres would ignite in the extreme heat of bush fire activity. 

“This will not only let us get in to fight the fire but get crews out too,” Mr Bonomini said.

Earlier this year, the Upper Lachlan Rural Fire Service, and FRNSW fought in the last line of defence against a bush fire that threatened to impact into the Southern Highlands in Taralga.

Inspector Luke Unsworth, “This area is seen as a key cut off point.” 

The new truck would ensure that the resources are adequate to protect the community in the case of a severe emergency. 

“This oversees a significant improvement of capabilities,” Mr Unsworth said. 

The diesel engine has 981 Newton metres of torque at 1450 rpm, this is approximately twice the torque of a typical performance V8 sedan. 

The FTS800 is a four wheel drive and weighs 13.9 tonne when it is fully equipped. It has a neat turning circle of 15 metres despite its size which is eight metres long, this is approximately 66 per cent longer nose-to-tail than a performance V8 sedan although the turning circle is only 33 per cent greater kerb-to-kerb.

With the capacity to carry 3.5 tonne of water that can be delivered through five outlets, and two electric rewind hose reels. It is also equipped with 40 litres of foam triggered by an automatic system. 

It can carry a maximum of four crew but because of the innovative design of the tanker it can run effectively with two people.