New tanker for Gerringong firies

EMERGENCY Services Minister Tony Kelly travelled to Gerringong last week to hand over the keys to a new $230,000 tanker to volunteers from the Gerringong Rural Fire Service.

Mr Kelly said the acquisition of the tanker combined with the stations new state-of-the-art facilities ensured the area has access to the best possible fire fighting resources.

The new $230,000 tanker will replace the brigades old tanker and help fire fighters provide essential emergency services to the local community, he said

The tanker is a heavy fire fighting appliance that carries between 3000 and 4000 litres of water and three to six fire fighters as well as a range of fire fighting equipment such as pumps and hoses.

Mr Kelly said he was extremely happy to be able to provide some of the countries 70,000 Rural Fire Service members with new facilities saying the volunteers who make up the service are some of the best trained and well equipped fire fighters in the world.

The Rural Fire Service has come a long way over the years, he said.

I remember the days when if there was an emergency everyone poured out of the pub in their shorts and thongs and grabbed a wet hessian bag before going out to work.

But those days are gone. What hasnt gone is that everyday someone in the state is risking their life and hopefully machinery such as this will provide increased safety.

If we as a community had to pay for the services these volunteer organisations provide we would be looking at around $2.3 billion a year.

Gerringong Rural Fire Service Captain, Shane Wicks said the new tanker had already been put to the test saying the vehicle was much more ergonomically designed than its predecessors.

This new tanker is very comfortable and has a great deal of new safety features which are of course vitally important, he said.

We have had it out on the road a few times already and it drives very well.

It has a turbo-charged intercooler engine which means it is not necessarily quicker but it makes it a lot easier climbing hilly terrain, it is a lot more powerful.

Kiama MP Matt Brown said he was pleased the state government could provide significant resources to the hard working men and women of the Gerringong volunteer fire brigade.

The Gerringong brigade provides fire protection from south of Kiama to Foxground and is responsible for protecting the towns of Gerringong and Gerroa, he said.

This new tanker is an investment in the bushfire protection of these local communities and the safety of our volunteer fire fighters.