MOBILE PUMPS PROTECT NATIONAL PARKS

AUSTRALIAN PUMP INDUSTRIES has won a contract to supply 280 diesel drive Aussie Fire Chief pumps for Australia’s National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), mobile firefighting unit. The contract for the building of replacement vehicles, considered prestigious, was won by Blayney based ICR Engineering. It is a multimillion-dollar contract that will do wonders for the rural community and create new jobs in the area, says the company.

Australian Pump says it has worked closely with National Parks over the last 25 years in supplying a specially configured version of its Aussie Fire Chief high-pressure pump. The Fire Chief is arguably the world’s finest lightweight portable firefighting pump. It is claimed to deliver more water at pressure than competitors.

“To drive the pump, we use a Yanmar 4.8 hp Model L48 single cylinder diesel engine and close couple the pumps. This makes it a very compact unit, important as space is at a premium on the back of the Land Cruiser ute,” said Aussie Pump’s Chief Engineer John Hales.

The Category 9 firefighters are compact 4WD vehicles. They are an essential tool for fire crews to enable them to access fires in some of the most rugged and remote areas of New South Wales.

ICR’s Engineering Director, Ian Reeks said one of his company’s advantages is that it’s located in the central location of New South Wales making it more convenient for delivering the finished products to all areas of the State.

“ICR has geared up for the contract by the acquisition of high-tech routing equipment that will enable them to produce a world class firefighting unit. The Aussie Fire Chief with Yanmar diesel is the heart of the system. We have used a high-tech approach to the design and configuration but, it is the pump that will have to do the work when the chips are down,” he said.

One of the things we liked about the Australian Pump Fire Chief is the way the company warrants the pump end for five years,” said Reeks. “That shows real confidence in the quality of the product.”

Australian Pump operates from a 2.5-acre factory complex in Sydney’s boutique Norwest business district. The company’s firefighting equipment is sold all over the world and played a prominent part in last summer’s major fires in both North America and Europe. Its firefighting pumps also play a major role in Sumatra’s annual forest burns.