Fire sale as £1m engines go for £15k

The engines cost £450,000 each but, at 18 tonnes, were seen as too heavy and threatened to roll over going round corners. for purpose which threatened to topple over, potentially maiming or injuring employees.

“Now we can’t even recoup any of the money we spent on them. It simply beggars belief.”

Labour MSP Claire Baker is fuming at the development.

She said: “These engines have been a long running embarrassment for the fire service and at a time of financial pressures hardworking staff will be continuing to ask questions about the way in which money was squandered.

“It is right that our Fire and Rescue service has amongst the best equipment available to them but these must have value for money and most importantly they must work.”

The 18- tonne Combined Aerial Rescue Pumps – which do 5mpg – were bought in 2007 and were intended to save money and boost rescue capability.

German- built, the trucks add a turntable ladder to a standard fire tender to make a vehicle able to deal with almost any emergency.

But they were taken off the road after a fire service driving instructor had to take “evasive action” to stop one of the vehicles from rolling over while trying to negotiate a roundabout at l ess than 23mph.

The Fire Brigade Union had warned against the purchase as long ago as 2005.

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service confirmed the engines had been sold for the bargain basement price.

She said: “The two Combined Aer i al Rescue Pumps in question were inherited from a legacy service.

“A review by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service concluded they were no longer fit for purpose or economically viable – and should be disposed.

“They were sold earlier this month for a combined £15,000 plus VAT – more than double the scrap value – which will now be reinvested back into our front line.”

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