The fire station at Ronaldsway Airport will soon receive three new fire engines.
They were built in the US by the Oshkosh Corporation, who ’build some of the industry’s toughest speciality trucks and access equipment’ and are currently in the UK for acceptance testing.
The Department of Infrastructure (DoI) confirmed the new engines would be brought over for use at the airport and will be deployed once staff training has taken place.
All three were funded from the Budget’s capital programme, the DoI confirmed, saying: ’The cost of the appliances was within the total agreed budget of £2.25m.’
Meanwhile, anyone who has ever wanted to own a fire engine for themselves could be in luck tomorrow, Saturday.
There are several fire vehicles for sale via Chrystals Auctions on behalf of the DoI, including a Volvo FL6E 5.4L Bronto Skylift F32RL.
The DoI confirmed that a number of specialist vehicles have been replaced since 2019 as part of the Budget capital vehicle replacement programme.
A spokesperson said: ’These vehicles had reached the end of their operational life due to their age - one vehicle was 29 years old - and, in particular, spare parts were becoming difficult to source.
’Yes, they have been replaced.’
When asked why the vehicles were listed on a normal auction site rather than via some sort of specialist site, the spokesperson said: ’To comply with financial regulations.
’The vehicles have very limited value and are unlikely to be of interest to UK fire-fighting organisations as any possible benefit would be offset by shipping/transport costs.
’The auction is online, however, so an off-island sale is possible.
’Also, the auctioneer has been asked to advertise in specialist publications related to emergency services both in the UK and Ireland, and to contact interested parties who have previously enquired about the possible disposal of Isle of Man Fire and Rescue Service vehicles.’
l A fire engine crashed on the Creg-ny-Baa back road while en route to a road traffic collision on the Mountain Road last week.
A police investigation into the incident has been launched.
Pending the results of this investigation, the fire service will then launch an internal investigation to rectify any issues raised.