WA fire vehicles get AVL

The safety of Western Australia’s fire crews is being enhanced with the installation of automatic vehicle location (AVL) technology.

Inspecting a demonstration of the AVL system today, Emergency Services Minister Joe Francis said the project was part of the state government’s $15.4 million crew protection program, designed to protect volunteer and career firefighters who work on the frontline.

“AVL technology means the incident controller will know the exact location of vehicles on the fire ground, improving crew coordination and management,” Francis said.

“The system also enables firefighters to activate an emergency distress alarm.”

AVL will be installed on 700 Department of Fire and Emergency Services and local government firefighting appliances operating in high-risk bushfire areas by 1 December 2016.

Regional Development Minister Terry Redman said the rollout of the AVL system in regional areas was made possible by $12.34 million in state government Royalties for Regions program funding.

Also under the crew protection project, nearly 1230 firefighting appliances have been fitted with radiant heat shields and 3700 burnover blankets installed.

And work is also underway to install 980 water deluge and in-cab air breathing systems, plus lagging and panels to protect vital equipment such as vehicle wiring, water and fuel lines.

The Western Australian Government announced last month that it would establish a new Rural Fire Service and Office of Emergency Management.

Image courtesy DFES.