The Isle of Wight Fire Service resilience is to be boosted with delivery of a heavy duty ‘Prime Mover’ transport vehicle.  Nearly 50 additional heavy transport vehicles are being distributed around the UK to help the Fire and Rescue Service (FRS) deal with major incidents.

Following requests from FRS, Englands Fire and rescue Service Department (FRSs) are to supply a ‘Prime Mover’ to the Isle of Wight, so that it has a greater ability to deploy the specialist kit provided by Communities and Local Government.

The specialist equipment is part of the Government’s investment of over £200 m in New Dimension programme which includes mass decontamination and urban search and rescue (USAR) kit, and HPV capability.  Prime Movers are used to transport the New Dimension equipment modules including the High Volume Pumps (HVPs), the unit consists of two demountable modules, each weighing ten tonnes or the same as six family cars.  

Welcoming the 50 new additions on behalf of the Chief Fire Officers’ Association Terry Standing said:

“These are very significant additions to the fleet of emergency Fire and Rescue Service vehicles and will enhance the ability of the fire services to provide a more flexible operational response to national emergencies. These new vehicles will bring particular benefits to FRSs when dealing with incidents such as widespread flooding and collapsed buildings.

“We very much welcome this additional Communities and Local Government funded investment which further reinforces the success of the partnership between central and local government in this important area of our work.”

The Department proposes that the vehicles will be located with FRSs that host USAR units and/or HVP units in 50 areas across the UK including the Isle of Wight.

Isle of Wight News and Information @Island Pulse.