New £1.8m fire-fighting boats added to brigade’s fleet

By Joe Talora, Local Democracy Reporter

The London Fire Brigade on Thursday welcomed two new fire and rescue river boats into its fleet as part of a £40million investment from City Hall.

The two new vessels, each worth about £1.8 million, will be used to fight fires alongside the River Thames and will contribute to a “significantly improved mass rescue capability”, with each boat capable of carrying up to 45 people.

It comes as part of a wider investment in modernising the London Fire Brigade in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017, which killed 72 people.

Last year, as part of the same investment, firefighters in London became the first in the UK to gain access to 64-metre turntable ladders capable of rescuing people from high-rise buildings.

The London Fire Brigade will also be the first brigade in the UK to deploy a fully electric fire engine as part of a trial this year in a bid to decarbonise the fleet.

London Fire Commissioner Andy Roe said today that the two new fire boats were indicative of the “significant investment” made by City Hall in upgrading the “kit and capability” of London’s firefighters over the past few years.

They are each fitted with high-powered hoses that allow crews to fight fires from the river as well as a hydraulic crane and thermal imaging camera that can be used to carry out rescues from the water.

The Fire Commissioner was joined aboard one of the vessels by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan on Thursday afternoon to officially mark their launch.

Mr Khan said: “The demands on London Fire Brigade have never been higher due to the extreme temperatures and terrible flash floods we have seen as a result of climate change.”

Pictured top: One of two new London Fire Brigade boats (London Fire Brigade)