The Cayman Islands Fire Service has added three tankers and four rapid intervention vehicles, costing a total of more than CI$2.45 million, to its fire-fighting fleet.
The vehicles arrived on island late last week and were conveyed from the port to the Central Fire Station on Monday morning, 14 Dec.
According to a government press release, the three tankers cost US$632,734 (CI$518,844) each, while the four other vehicles each cost US$271,711 (CI$222,803).
Chief Fire Officer Paul Walker, in the release, stated that the old tankers had been in service for 13-15 years.
He added that the new tankers were fitted with high pressure hose reels, improved pumping capabilities and revised locker layout for a quick and safe deployment of hoses and equipment.
He said the rapid intervention vehicles would “prove quicker and more versatile on local roads which are often busy and sometimes narrow. As a result, vehicles and crews would be able to arrive at incidents more quickly with sufficient fire and rescue equipment to deploy safely.”
Other features of the rapid intervention vehicle include high-pressure hose reels that can produce very fine droplets of water for rapid cooling of fires, and hydraulic rescue equipment that can be quickly deployed for rescues at motor vehicle accidents.
One of the rapid intervention vehicles will be sent to Cayman Brac, and another new tanker will be ordered for that island next year, officials said.
The old Fire Service vehicles will be auctioned for parts to local bidders, reallocated to jobs such as landfill fires or sold to international bidders.
The release stated that the replacement of the domestic fleet followed the upgrade of the aviation fleet in September this year at a cost of CI$2.85 million.
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