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THE SALAMANDER | JULY 2017
spreading, specialist animal rescue equipment,
air and electric power tools, water rescue paths
and low pressure air mats.
Group Commander Andy Draper – Technical
andWorkshops, said, “It was a proud day inApril
when members of the working group travelled
to Guildford to collect the SRU from the John
Dennis Coach Works. This has been a real
team effort and product of effective partnership
working. Our team knew through experience
what we needed and how they wanted it to be
designed. Our partners provided the expertise
to take our requirements and put them into
this fantastic new vehicle, the latest in this list
of long serving and reliable vehicles that have
played such an important part in the safety of
people in Bedfordshire.”
The new SRU took three years from inception
to completion and has an expected life span of
more than 20 years.
Chief Fire Officer Paul Fuller CBE is delighted
with the new edition to the Service, he said, “We
have had a specialist rescue capability for many
years, this new unit designed by firefighters
will enhance that capability and allow us to
help a greater and wider range of people in
communities throughout Bedfordshire.”
Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service (BFRS)
is blazing the trail with the launch of their new
bespoke, state-of-the-art Special Rescue Unit.
Bedfordshire has over the years, found it
increasingly called upon to attend a wide
variety of non-fire rescues known as ‘Special
Services’. These include Road Traffic
Collisions, transport, industrial and large animal
incidents. The Authority recognised that there
was a need to replace the previous Rescue
Unit with a Specialist Rescue Service (SRU)
specifically designed to deal with a growing and
unpredictable range of incidents. A bespoke
SRU was needed that could be mobilised to
complicated or complex rescues where the
equipment normally carried on a Rescue Pump
is not sufficient.
The development of the new vehicle was
undertaken by a Service working group in close
partnership with John Dennis Coach Builders
and numerous suppliers of technical rescue
equipment.
The first steps were taken to create the latest in
five generations of Bedfordshire SRU’s which
began in the 1960s with a converted military
truck. Like the previous SRU this vehicle
has been purpose built and is suitable for all
of the traditional specialist equipment carried
on previous SRUs and the latest state-of-the-
art items bought by the Authority’s Technical
Department to meet today’s requirements.
These include heavy rescue cutting and
Fire Crew training with the new SRU vehicle
New Special Rescue Unit for
Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service
Peter Hopkins
PR & Marketing Committee.
Worshipful Company of Firefighters