New fleet for London Fire Brigade
LFB's new fleet gets the royal seal of approval
Babcock International was awarded a 21-year contract in 2014 to manage and maintain London Fire Brigade’s (LFB) vehicle and equipment fleet. As part of that contract, Babcock is responsible for the design and delivery of the new state-of-the-art fire appliances. The company has worked closely with LFB on the new design and has commissioned umnock-based manufacturer, Emergency One UK Ltd (E1), to build them.
His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales (known as the Duke of Rothesay in Scotland) was introduced to employees from Babcock, E1 and LFB and lauded the efforts of everyone involved in the manufacture of vehicles, which have been designed with several major technical changes in comparison to the 2007 model and which are expected to have a life of around 12 years. Babcock has long term contracts to manage and maintain LFB’s fleet of vehicles and equipment and design and deliver training for its firefighters. Under the project the first appliance will be rolled out in May, with a further 52 rolled out as part of the first tranche until the end of 2017.
Paul Wilkins, Babcock’s Director of Resilience and Emergency Services, said: “This is a major investment and effort for everyone involved. I’m delighted the day was an opportunity to celebrate Babcock’s long term partnership with London Fire Brigade and the work of E1. We know that we have chosen a company that can deliver to the high standards Babcock recognises. “It’s been nearly 10 years since the last LFB appliances were built and we feel this new fleet includes some exciting developments that will serve our customer and London firefighters well,” he added. Commissioner, Ron Dobson, added: “It was an honour to be able to show the prototype to His Royal Highness and I am looking forward to the new designs going into service later in the year.” The new ergonomically designed appliances will all be compliant with Euro 6 legislation meaning lower levels of overall emissions, and the breathing apparatus is being moved away from behind the crew cab to elsewhere in the appliance, which will improve firefighter comfort on journeys.
Read the full story and specification of the new appliances on the Babcock International website.