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Second Top Fire and Rescue Appliance delivered to Waterford Airport

 


Waterford Airport has just taken delivery of its second top fire and rescue appliance. Angloco UK delivered the €600,000 Austrian built appliance this week and it will go into immediate service.

The Rosenbauer Panther 6x6 CA5 is a specialist aviation fire appliance which carries 12,000 litres of water and 1,600 litres of foam. This gives the monitor – the spray jet mounted on the roof – the ability to produce 7,000 litres of foam per minute. The monitor can pump the foam to a range of around 100 metres and can be operated effectively from the safety of the cab. The two Rosenbauer appliances will be the lead (Rescue 1) and backup (Rescue 2) vehicles at the airport with added capability from the airport’s older Mark 11 appliance.

The 34 tonne Robenbaurs can accelerate from 0 to 80km/h in less than 30 seconds and move at a top speed of 125km/h. They have many extra features, including all-wheel drive capability, allowing them to climb over obstacles and traverse rough terrain. With the steeper angle of the windscreen and transparent doors, the Panthers give very good visibility. They also provides more headroom for the driver and crew members and the wide doors make the cab easily accessible – as well as access to the roof. Both vehicles have been adapted with customer designed features for Waterford Airport, including modifications to the fire equipment housed on the vehicles. The Panthers also have ‘all mod cons’ with air-conditioning, leather interior, camera reverse car parking and even cup holders!....though a puncture can be costly with a single spare tyre costing €5,000!

Graham Doyle, CEO, Waterford Airport, said, “The addition of the second Panther appliance is very exciting in the context of the airport’s high standard of rescue and fire fighting capabilities. Our vehicles are state-of-the-art and our operations team is trained, equipped and ready to respond in the unlikely event of an emergency at the airport. We are very proud of our new vehicles and, more particularly, of our team who, under Chief Fire Officer Mattie Whittle, perform a critical role in overall airport operations supporting passenger flights, general aviation and Coastguard services.”