Two new fire appliances will soon be available for emergencies in rural areas of Hastings. The trucks should be based in Rissington and Putorino and could replace smaller vehicles in an effort to be relocated to other areas.

The new vehicles are purpose-built Isuzu NPS300s single-cab medium fire appliances, with a water tank capacity of 1800 litres. The National Rural Fire Authority subsidised the acquisition of the vehicles.

The Rissington appliance replaces a utility fire vehicle with a 600 litre water tank and the Putorino appliance replaces a 1995 appliance with a 1,000 litre water tank.

Deputy Mayor Cynthia Bowers says “It is crucial that our rural residents have faith that, in times of emergency, modern firefighting equipment is on the market. These two new appliances can be a significant breakthrough from the equipment that is currently available at these rural stations.”

Cynthia Bowers says “They are going to be used for firefighting of their respective rural areas but could be available for deployment to other parts of the district if required.