Blazing away at Harrogate
Page 14
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Consortium purchasing, new chassis-cabs and reports of lively exports dominated this year's annual fire services exhibition at Harrogate.
Dennis and Volvo head the fire tender scene but after a 20-year gap ERF has returned with a new crew cabbed B-Type appliance alongside new long-link and Chinese-six twin-steer 6x2 chassis for foam tender use.
ERF is also building a hydraulic platform chassis with a special dropped, forward-control cab. Simon Access's first production ALP340 34m aerial ladder platform made its debut and 50m versions are due next year. With export sales to faraway places such as China, the Czech Republic and Changi Airport in Singapore, it says sales are buoyant.
Angloco, now in its 30th year, reports a surge in orders; £1.2m in one recent four-week period which included a 30m aerial ladder platform for the Nottinghamshire service and two foam tenders for Hong Kong's Kai Tak airport.
With contracts to supply two consortiums with "fleet-spec" appliances and more than 100 ordered, Dennis Specialist Vehicles and John Dennis Coachbuilders are also taking advantage of favourable exchange rates to take on continental rivals.
Volvo, the other UK market leader, underlined its diversity by showing eight different appliances including the first FL614 water tender with the new supercharged and turbocharged 250hp D6A six-litre engine.