TWELVE new electric vehicles have been acquired by Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service – to help reduce its carbon footprint.
The 12 Nissan LEAF cars – distinctly liveried with the message “Red Fire Engines, Green Values” – will become a common sight in Warrington when they deployed across the county for support staff.
They will replace some of the existing fleet of petrol cars used to go from station to station and home visits in local communities.
Multi-charge posts have been installed at nine fire stations, ensuring a
network of fleet charging points in each of the four unitary areas.
Four LEAFs will be based at Warrington Fire Station, two at Chester, four at Crewe and two at Headquarters in Winsford.
Environment, energy and engineering officer Ella Schubmehl managed the project.
She said: “Some of the vehicles used by our support staff, whether by advocates visiting households in the community or station to station or headquarter to station visits, were nearing the end of their contracts and would need replacing.
“The Energy Saving Trust carried out an in-depth survey of precisely how and where the support vehicles were used and were able to see that, with the incorporation of strategically placed charging posts, a large proportion of the fleet could comprise electric vehicles, thereby supporting our low carbon aspiration of 40 per cent carbon reduction by 2020.”
Three quarters of the total value of the vehicles is being grant funded by the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) and Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service the remaining amount over a two year period.
Similarly, charging posts have been 75 per cent grant funded with OLEV paying £26,593.00 against the service’s outlay of £6,648.25.
Cllr Tony Sherlock, Cheshire Fire Authority environmental champion, said: “We launched our environment and sustainability strategy in 2014 to ensure we achieve 40 per cent carbon reduction by 2020 and have been very fortunate to be included on the OLEV readiness project for the procurement of electric vehicles and the implementation of a charging infrastructure. With their help we have been able to reduce our carbon footprint and work towards being an increasingly environmentally friendly authority.”
