Truck makers going to blazes
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by Bryan Jarvis • The row over firemen's pay and whether there are enough Green Goddesses to cover brigade commitments smoulders on, but that couldn't keep manufacturers away from the Fire '93 show at the Glasgow exhibition centre last week.
The possibility of compulsory competitive tendering (CCT) for fire appliance maintenance was a major topic at the three-day conference.
Repair ethos
Hampshire's Deputy Chief Fire Officer David Pain spoke of the "special place" that fire fighting vehicles presently enjoy, and the ethos of brigade repair organisations.
This is more evident than in, say, local authority departments, where suitable vehicles can be rented in if necessary. He warned that brigade transport specialists will need to be on their toes if they are not to lose out to some very professional private groups and have their overall control fragmented.
Star of the exhibition was a Dennis Rapier with the latest sixman crew cab. Based on a stainless-steel space frame and using panels from Dennis Eagle's Elite municipal vehicle, it is assembled at the former Duple Coachworks plant at Blackpool.
Dennis reports considerable interest: one major brigade has already ordered five new-cab Rapiers with a repeat option.
Scania and Volvo both displayed their 100th appliances to be supplied to single customers Strathclyde and London brigades
respectively-while MercedesBenz showed a fire-spec version of its latest 7.5-tonne Ul4OL longwheelbase 4x4.
Based on Unimog running gear, it has a higher cab roof, eight-speed splitter box and costs around ,L42,000.
Lost ground
Renault served notice that it aims to make up lost ground and had two appliances on show, but there was no sign of lveco Ford or Leyland Daf.
On the bodybuilder front it was very much a home fixture for Dumfries-based Penman Engineering, while Bedwas Bodyworks, GC Smith (Coachworks) and Leicester Carriage Builders all made their show debuts, Bedwas displayed a neat selfarming, infra-red alarm designed to combat theft from working units; LCB showed a new £200,000 Smnia truck-based command and control unit, Powered by an 8kVA diesel generator, the two-compartment body expands hydraulically to give an extra reporting area. It has sophisticated computer equipment and video-linked infra-red surveillance cameras.
Moffet Mounty fork lifts have found a place with brigades; Essex has four, including three for motorway rescue work.
The company has also developed a new four-way version with front wheels that can turn through 180° for handling long lengths of timber, piping or extrusions.