Bushfire Heavy Attack v1.0 – RFBAQ designed / RFSQ FundedFriday, 3 Feb 2023
The construction schedule will see this vehicle completed April 2023.
RFSQ now has a good and practical design for Town Heavy Attacks and another 17 of these are in production for towns across regional and remote Queensland.
The Town Heavy Attack manual can be accessed at this link https://www.rfbaq.org/cafs_ha_manual
What Queensland brigades were missing from state fleet choice to meet their local needs was a Bushfire Heavy Attack. This is a type of vehicle that has been available to brigades across other states and territories for many years, but its build by the QFES has always been denied to brigades in Queensland.
Communities and the Rural Fire Brigades that defend them are enormously diverse and the equipment that brigades are able to access should be able to meet local needs. One size does not fit all.
When you travel around Queensland and have a look at the bigger vehicles that brigades design, build and fund themselves there are a number of common themes that we have incorporated into the Bushfire Heavy Attack v1.0.
This vehicle will travel around the state, much of the time in company with the RFBAQ FusionCruiser to gather brigade member feedback on design and usability. These improvements will then be incorporated into the production version.
This vehicle incorporates the latest and best crew safety equipment and designs that was learnt from the RFBAQ / QuikCorp Innovation platform and the FusionCruiser as well as inclusions derived from both the South Australian CFS and the Victorian CFA.
The vehicle will be on show at AFAC23 in Brisbane to also gather feedback and suggestions from the fire agencies who have been using bushfire heavies for many years. This will allow our design to catch up in a very short time.
The RFBAQ would like to thank Commissioner
Greg Leach, Deputy Commissioner Mike Wassing, Deputy Commissioner Adam Stevenson and RFSQ Chief Officer Joanne Greenfield for backing and funding this project and not succumbing to the anti-change, anti-improvement officers of gloom and complacency who populate many of the halls of Kedron.
