Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service Newsdesk

at 19/09/2003 15:56

The Fire and Rescue Service is to benefit from £132m of investment over three years that will provide brigades with new specialist equipment to help them deal with a major incident.

The money, announced by Fire Service Minister Nick Raynsford, will take forward Phase Two of the New Dimension programme. This includes the purchase of ultra modern search and rescue equipment such as heavy lifting gear, search cameras and high volume water pumps which will improve brigades' capacity to respond to incidents involving collapsed buildings. The funding will also lead to the creation of central command control and training infrastructure.

Mr Raynsford said:

"The provision of this equipment is to improve the capability of the fire and rescue service. It is not in response to a specific threat but in line with our commitment in the Fire White Paper to ensure that the fire and rescue service is properly equipped to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

"We are already doing a great deal to ensure that the Fire and Rescue Service can respond effectively to a wide range of incidents. Today's announcement will strengthen our abilities still further, building on the £56m for New Dimension we announced last year."

The New Dimension Programme was launched in 2002 to review fire and rescue service preparedness against a potential terrorist threat. Some £56m has already been allocated to Phase One.

Today's money is being funded from the previously announced Capital Modernisation Fund allocations and from ODPM resources.