Strong reputation aids firefighters in Fiji

[kscarbel2]

Press Release / February 24, 2015

The trust that firefighters around the world place in Scania trucks helped convince Fiji’s National Fire Authority to invest in the brand as part of its modernisation efforts.

When Fiji’s National Fire Authority (NFA) needed to update its fleet of firefighting trucks to more modern and reliable vehicles, it conducted extensive research.

The authority has long relied on second-hand vehicles to manage fires and other emergencies in Fiji’s metropolitan and suburban communities, and so the decision to purchase new vehicles was significant. The NFA ultimately placed its trust in two brand-new, multipurpose firefighting vehicles built around Scania trucks.

Worldwide trend for Scania

“The main reason we bought the vehicles was that we wanted to move on in terms of technology,” says the NFA’s Chief Executive Officer, John O’Connor. “We saw that a lot of fire departments around the world were moving to Scania. In particular, we have a twin agreement with the Country Fire Authority in Victoria, Australia, and they are buying new Scania fire trucks.”

The first of the two vehicles was delivered and commissioned in December 2014 and the second is due to go into service in June this year. Both are being supplied by Fraser Engineering, a specialist fire vehicle maker, based outside of Wellington, New Zealand.

Exceeding expectations

O’Connor says the first vehicle, intended for use in Fiji’s capital Suva, is a multi-purpose fire truck with a 5,000-litre water capacity and sophisticated foam system. It is based on Scania's P410 4X4 platform with a 4-door CP28 CrewCab*.

* Scania's factory-built P-series "CrewCab" is available in the CP28 version for 5-6 crew, as well as a larger CP31 version for 6-8 crew.

“We identified a risk posed by some oil tanks located just outside of the central business district in an industrial area,” he says. “We decided to address this by purchasing a Scania multi-purpose fire truck. It’s almost like an airport fire truck, with fire fighting monitors on the roof of the truck. It’s also equipped for fighting property fires, and fitted with road accident and rescue equipment.”

O’Connor says after more than a month on the job, the vehicle has now been called out to several fires and “exceeded our expectations.”

The second vehicle, to be delivered in June 2015, is a 25-metre aerial ladder platform truck capable of rescuing individuals from buildings up to nine or ten stories high. The vehicle is based on a Scania P310 DB4x2 with a 4-door CP28 CrewCab and has a pump and water tank on-board, allowing it to fight both aerial fires and normal metropolitan fires.

Help from the dealer

Before being fitted out by Fraser Engineering, the vehicle was adapted for its firefighting role by Scania’s dealer in New Zealand, CablePrice.

“The equipment required for firefighting today has become increasingly sophisticated,” explains CablePrice’s National Commercial Vehicle Sales Manager Garry Leitch. “This normally adds weight and requires the re-routing of wiring and re-positioning of components. Scania provided Fraser Engineering with the flexibility it needed to meet the expectations of the customer.”

Number one in the world

Martin Simpson, the owner of Fraser Engineering, says fire authorities tend to specify which brand of truck their firefighting vehicles are based on, and this is often Scania.

“We’ve been building Scania for 15 years and produced well over 200 Scania fire and rescue vehicles, and obviously it is a reliable chassis and one of the best double cabs on the market. It’s probably the number one cab chassis in the world and it’s recognised for it.”

The NFA is now continuing its modernisation program with a mix of new and quality second hand vehicles.

.