INVERELL Shire Council officially handed over $310,000 worth of new fire tankers to the Delungra and Graman Rural Fire Service (RFS) brigades on Tuesday afternoon.

For RFS Superintendent Chris Wallbridge the two tankers complete an ongoing upgrade that has been taking place in this local government area over the last six years.

“In terms of the brigade, it boosts morale,” Superintendent Wallbridge said.

“It also improves their response time and their safety, most importantly, to make sure they all come home safe.

“The boys absolutely love getting a new truck, you can’t beat having a new appliance to respond and get around in,” Superintendent Wallbridge said.

The last five years has seen an increased investment in replacement, which has seen the average age of RFS units in the Inverell Shire come down to under 15 years and the removal of all the older models of petrol fuelled tankers.

Superintendent Wallbridge said his command will now go from a replacement to a maintenance program that will be continued into the future.

Mayor of Inverell Shire Council Mal Peters said it was very pleasing to see that the shire was able to contribute to making sure the RFS has got the best equipment that is available.

“There is always a strong risk of bushfires in our area so to have this top notch equipment is absolutely first class and I’m pleased that Inverell Shire’ s been part of being able to provide it,” Cr Peters said.

“Part of the funding agreement is that we provide around 11 per cent and the balance of it comes from the NSW government.

“It wasn’t that long ago we had some very old petrol tankers; we’ve got as good as you can get now and obviously we need to ensure that we maintain a good, modern fleet all the time,” Cr Peters said.

© 2011 Inverell Times

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