Release date: 16 June 2025
West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service has taken delivery of two brand new water carriers to enhance its vehicle fleet.
The new vehicles are 18 tonne Water Carriers and have been custom built for the service by Emergency One in Scotland at a total cost of £600,000 for the two vehicles.
They will be based at Petworth Fire Station and Shoreham Fire Station, replacing the existing appliances at Burgess Hill and Petworth and are expected to be fully operational in July.
Water carriers offer additional resilience when responding to emergencies in areas of low water pressure, and when supporting large incidents where a higher volume of water is required in firefighting operations.
Each vehicle has the capacity to carry 9,000 litres of water to an incident and is capable of delivering water directly to an incident via its own hoses and hose reel.
The water carriers are also equipped with two inflatable dams which can store 10,000 litres of water and can be used to provide a continuous supply of water for firefighting during an incident.
Chief Fire Officer, Sabrina Cohen-Hatton, said: “West Sussex is a predominantly rural county with limited static water supplies. During an incident, a lack of adequate water supplies presents an increased risk to public and firefighter safety.
“Water carriers are critical in ensuring successful outcomes at incidents where supplementary water supplies are needed and can provide this in a timely, agile, and efficient manner.”
Councillor Duncan Crow, Cabinet Member for Community Support, Fire and Rescue, said: “This is a significant investment from West Sussex County Council to modernise our fleet and replace the current vehicles which have reached the end of their operational lives.
“These new vehicles will offer greater operational resilience to help keep people living and working in West Sussex safe.”
