Brand new Unimog for DWFRS to help with elevated wildfire risk

Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service has invested nearly half a million pounds in a new off-road Unimog to help it tackle heath fires and other incidents.

The Service already has a Unimog, based at Wareham fire station, and it has proved invaluable, especially at large-scale incidents. A project to replace the multi-functional vehicle – which is now 16 years old – started about three years ago.

After a huge amount of work across the Service, working with the external supplier, the new vehicle arrived in April. Following extensive testing and driver training, it is now operationally available and has already been used at three wildfire incidents over the weekend.

Assistant Chief Fire Officer Darren Langdown said: “As part of our commitment to the on-going development of our vehicles and equipment, I am really pleased to confirm we now have our new Unimog in service and able to respond to incidents, which can include flooding and thatch fires as well as large fires in the open.”

He added: “We have seen a significant increase in the number of wildfires across our Service area over the past five years, and the Unimog has been an invaluable asset to tackling these. The new vehicle has some new features, which will enhance our firefighting capabilities not just on our heaths but in other hard-to-reach rural locations.”

It has a capacity of 4,500 litres of water and 162 litres of foam, together with front, rear and roof mounted monitors that can direct large quantities of water or foam at a fire.

The off-road capability of the new machine has been significantly enhanced due to the upgrade in tyres, along with the addition of a low ratio gear box and the ability to set the tyre pressures to the type of terrain at the touch of a button.

FIRE Magazine

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