Launceston set to benefit from new aerial firefighting appliance

The appliances, at a cost of between $1.4-$1.5 million each, arrived in Tasmania this week.

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With current infrastructure ageing, Tasmania Fire Service chief officer Chris Arnol said his crews were excited to start training with the new equipment.

"These are the best fire appliances we could get in the world," he said.

"It's been a couple of years in the planning and we're replacing three snorkel apparatus with three diverse and different apparatus that we can use particularly for aerial firefighting which means high rise buildings and specific rescues."

The three urban fire appliances will be located across the state - with a 32 metre ladder that can go underground based in Launceston.

"They'll be able to be pulled together or operate separately within each area," Mr Arnol said.

"We've made sure that the right trucks are there for the right job, so we've worked out what our cities needs are across the state and how we can use these in the best way."

Mr Arnol said the TFS was heavily involved in the design process.

"They're specifically designed for the urban environment and they're going to give the greatest protection we could afford for Tasmania in this particular area," he said.

"They're state of the art, world's best press button technology. They self level, they've got automatic stoppers on them, it makes the operators job so easy, our firefighters already love them."

The new appliances are part of the state fire commission's ongoing fleet management program.

"We've got these aerial apparatus, we've got three pumpers coming next year, we've just put a couple of pumpers in service in Hobart and Launceston, we're rolling out roughly every five weeks our medium tankers for our bushfires, so we continue with our fleet program to keep it contemporary and upgraded," Mr Arnol said.

Fire and Emergency Management Minister Mark Shelton said the government committed $3.75 million to the new equipment alongside money from the state fire commission.

"It is all about keeping Tasmanians safe and making sure that there is the contemporary appliances out there in our community to make sure that happens.

"As soon as our people are trained up on these they're ready for operation.

"Big red trucks, everyone likes to see them around and I'm sure that any young people that are out there and see these trucks will one day want to be a firefighter and have a look."

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