Not good enough, Minister Symes.
Aerial Pumper 72 has once again broken down at a fire. This is the 2nd fire that this vehicle has had to be abandoned at in as many months. In addition to these breakdowns, Aerial Pumper 72 had been away for a seperate mechanical fault, and was only returned into service yesterday!
This has left Mildura and surrounding areas without a reserve pumper, a vital resource as the nearest FRV brigade to cover Station 72, when trucks are committed at incidents, is Bendigo – 4 HOURS away.
Aerial Pumper 72 had the following mechanical issues before it was locked and parked on the side of the road at a fire call in Merbein South.
The mechanics are arranging either a tow or repair:
-Heater in cabin permanently on hot. Similar to when an engine overheats, however engine temp gauge read normal temperature.
-Hydraulic oil leak, suspect from cabin tilt.
-Strong smell of diesel. Leak appears to be coming from engine compartment.
-Suspension malfunction fault on dash reset upon restart.
Suspension jacked itself as high as it can go whilst idling at a fire.
-Doors locked all firefighters in truck whilst at fire call, door could not be opened until the central locking was operated approximately 10 times.
-Whist driving to a fire call the suspension lowered itself so far down that the tyres were making contact with the body of the truck. Large volumes of smoke was emitted from the truck as a result.
This could have just as easily occured at a structure fire, where lives could potentially be lost due to the delay in firefighting occuring. Victoria has a fire crisis, and it’s only a matter of time until there is catastrophic consequences as a result of the out-of-date FRV fleet.
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