Scottish Fire and Rescue Service commission £500,000 electric powered fire engine

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has commissioned its first electric powered engine.

Crews will start using the appliance in early 2023 but a suitable location for it has not yet been identified.

The vehicle was produced with the help of £500,000 funding from Transport Scotland and it will be delivered to the service later this year.

The contract to build the low carbon vehicle, which is capable of travelling a distance of 220 miles on 80% charge, was recently awarded to Emergency One in Ayrshire.

Stewart Nicholson, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s Deputy Assistant Chief Officer, said: “We are excited to commission our first electric-powered appliance with support from Transport Scotland.

“There are already more than 100 electric cars within our light fleet, however this is our first venture into low-carbon heavy duty vehicles.”

Transport minister Jenny Gilruth said: “This is a really exciting, innovative development and I’m pleased to be funding it through our partnership with Scottish Enterprise, which is supporting the decarbonisation of heavy duty vehicles across Scotland.

“The public sector should be seen to lead the way on this type of work, which demonstrates that tough operational requirements for service vehicles, often working in challenging conditions, can indeed be met without the sole reliance of fossil fuels.

“I look forward to seeing the electric fire appliance deployed in communities as a beacon not only for the journey that the fire service is on – but for Scotland’s wider transition to a net- zero society.”