TWO Bendigo fire brigades will get new heavy tankers, much to the delight of one captain preparing to move his brigade into new headquarters.
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Golden Square's brigade is preparing to move out of its cramped 112 year old building and can now take a world-leading truck with it.
And in even better news, the truck will fit into the existing High Street building.
Brigade captain Bryan Greenwood says that will come in handy as it is not immediately clear when building works might start at the new site on Specimen Hill Road.
"Yeah, a neighbouring brigade has one of these tankers so they came out and backed it in," Mr Greenwood said.
The Victorian government has revealed Golden Square and Eaglehawk's brigades will get one of 28 new dual cab tankers to replace single cab trucks.
The trucks can withstand temperatures of 600 degrees, should a bushfire roll over the top, along with electronic monitors, electric rewind hose reels, modern cab chassis enhancements and higher levels of emissions controls.
Golden Square's existing truck is designed to fight bushfires, not necessarily the hybrid blazes Bendigo brigades often respond to.
Mr Greenwood's brigade often helps Fire Rescue Victoria with house and business fires, making a truck with better space for breathing apparatuses and stronger water pumps a boon, Mr Greenwood said.
The brigade helps out at grass and scrub fires within Bendigo's city limits.
"People don't necessarily realise how much bushland there is within Bendigo, and how much of a threat it poses," Mr Greenwood said.
Much of that land stretches across old mining land in Golden Square itself, at sites traditionally too complex to be touched by developers.
The new trucks are part of a $126 million state government spend.
They were made in Sunshine North by manufacturer R.A Bell & Co (Bell Fire and Rescue) and can fit a full crew within the cabin, CFA chief officer Jason Heffernan said.
"These new tankers are state-of-the-art firefighting vehicles," he said.
The Golden Square brigade currently expects its new tanker to arrive by the end of the year.
The truck will have its work cut out for it.
The brigade currently is called to about 200 jobs a year, with more expected as Bendigo's population expands.
Meanwhile, the Country Fire Authority continues to prepare to build the new station in Specimen Hill Road, though Mr Greenwood is not yet sure exactly when building works will begin.
He was hopeful of getting some certainty early this year.
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