Fire service to get six new engines costing £2.4m

The vehicles will replace six of the oldest appliances in the fleet

A fire brigade is to spend £2.4m on six new fire engines for its fleet.

The vehicles will replace six of the oldest appliances at West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service – four of which are over 20 years old and two of which are 16 years old.

Duncan Crow, West Sussex County Council cabinet member for community support, fire & rescue, gave the go ahead for the purchase on Friday.

The new 16-tonne engines will hold 1,800 litres of water and will cost £400,000 each.

A tendering process will be carried out, with the aim of awarding contracts by March 2025, said the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

A report from chief fire officer Sabrina Cohen-Hatton said the new vehicles would bring a number of benefits.

They include improved vehicle and firefighting technology, supporting the county council's goal to be carbon neutral by 2030 and reducing maintenance costs and the risk of failure of emergency response vehicles.