New Light Rescue For Chelsea SES

Chelsea Rescue 3

Last night (22/11/2010) Chelsea SES were thrilled to officially be handed the keys to their new $110,000 Light Rescue Vehicle; Chelsea Rescue 3.

Mr. Gary Rowe; Chairman of the Carrum Downd Branch of the Bendigo Community Bank hands overv the keys to Chelsea Controller Ron Fitch

The vehicle was made possible through a fantastic, generous donation from the Carrum Downs branch of the Bendigo Community Bank. Mr. Gary Rowe, Chairman of the Board of the branch was on hand to pass over the keys to the new Mercedes truck and spoke about the Banks ongoing support of the SES.

Ron and Gary check out the new vehicle

Branch Director, Mr. Terry Rankin joined Mr. Rowe for the handover. Many people are not aware that 80% of all profits from the Bendigo Community Banks go back to support community projects and in fact the Carrum Downs’s branch has already delivered in excess of one Million Dollars back to the community.

Chelsea Rescue 3 takes the Chelsea fleet to 4

This new vehicle takes Chelsea’s Rescue fleet to 4 vehicles plus specialist Storm and Flood trailers and 2 Rescue boats.

Just some of the equipment that will be carried by Rescue 3

The extra vehicle will allow Chelsea to now have 4 crews and vehicles in the field during high level activities similar to the storms that swept through Aspendale Gardens recently.

Lighting will be an important part of Rescue 3's work

The evening began with another handover, this time from Chelsea Rotary. Mr. Peter Washington presented unit Controller Ron Fitch with a cheque for in excess of $1300 for assistance carried out by Chelsea SES at a recent Farmers Market. Chelsea members assisted with parking at the event.

Mr. Peter Washington presents the cheque from Chelsea Rotary

The evening was not over yet. As the formal part of the presentation had concluded, the pagers sounded with a request for assistance from Bondi Avenue to release a trapped possum.

Well here's another fine mess!

On arrival, the trapped poss was soon found and Daniel , the possum whisperer, went to work and soon had the poss on her way home

Enter Chelsea Member and Possum  Whisperer, Daniel to convince young Poss it was time to head home

All's well that ends well and it's time to head home to Mum.

Still behind bars but free to live another day!

For those who like to know these things the new vehicle specifications are as follows:

Vehicle Specifications:

Chassis: Mercedes Benz Sprinter 516 CDI LWB (4.49t)

Gross Vehicle Mass: 4.49 tonne (GVM)

Engine: Diesel 2-stage Turbocharged & Inter cooled EURO 5, in-line 4 Cylinder, 120kW (163hp) with 360 Nm of Torque.

Transmission: 5 Speed automatic.

Seating: 6 Seats

Drive: Rear Wheels

Safety: Adaptive Electronic Stability Program, driver, front passenger, window and

thorax airbags; height adjustable head restraints; 3 point inertia reel seat belts.

Equipment Body:

• 4 Large & 3 Small lockers with 1 shadow board for storage of tools and 2 with adjustable shelving (including locker lighting)
• Open area between rear lockers for storage of large items such as pumps etc.
• Hand operated light mast (up to 4m from the ground) with 2 X 12V Xenon HID flood lights
• External work lights at each corner of the body controlled by the Hazard SLIC panel

Equipment Capabilities

• Up to 600kg of tools and equipment
• Single purpose truck, i.e. capacity for storm or flood equipment

Licence Requirements:

• Normal car license