12 Mar 2010

First of new fire command vehicles commissioned

10:39 pm on 12 March 2010

The Fire Service has rolled out its first new command vehicle, which will be one of 17 in operation nationwide by the end of next year.

The vehicles cost $800,000 each and are equipped to cope with hazardous chemical callouts, biological alerts and radiological threats.

They will be stationed in areas the Fire Service says will enable them to respond within 20 minutes in major cities, and within one hour in the rest of the country.

It says having one in every major city will ensure large-scale emergencies are managed much better than ever before.

The command vehicles have the latest in communications technology, which the service says will help it to communicate better with other emergency services.