Kildare Fire Service has taken hold of four new officer jeeps for the county. 1 Ford Kuga and 3 Ford Rangers.
The Kuga is a designated response vehicle for the Rostered Senior Fire Officer (RSFO) while the three Rangers will be issued to Station Officers in Newbridge, Naas and Athy stations.
Funding for the 161 registered officer jeeps was provided by the Department of Environment, with the vehicles being purchased through existing Office of Government Procurement framework agreements.
Niall O’ Riordan, Senior Assistant Chief Fire Officer told Emergency Times that the new vehicles will be a great asset to the fire service in Kildare. “We applied for funding last December, that was approved and we were waiting just twelve weeks for delivery of the rostered senior fire officer’s jeep. The Station Officer jeeps were also applied for and approved under the same framework and under the Departments’ tendering process. Both types of jeeps are kitted out with full Battenberg, lights, siren units, radio and communications. They will be a great asset to the fire service in Kildare”.
The Ford Rangers are a crew-cab jeep which can carry up to five personnel. The rear canopy area has a pull out tray which will hold the various type of equipment required by a station officer. These jeeps each cost approximately €28,500.
The jeeps were all fitted out and marked by High Precision Motor Products Ltd in Tullow, Co. Carlow while Telent (formerly ARQIVA) fitted them out with their radio communication systems.
The RSFO jeep has been on the run and operational for the past two weeks, while the S/O jeeps will be delivered and issued to station officers at Newbridge, Naas and Athy in the near future.
