Fire service unveils new £1m turntable ladder

Humberside Fire and Rescue Service has unveiled a new fire appliance that can reach heights of up to138ft (42m).

The turntable ladder will be based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, and the service claimed it is the first of its type in the UK.

Niall McKiniry, the service's deputy chief fire officer, said the vehicle cost almost £1m and would replace an existing aerial platform.

He said: "It is the latest technology. The key benefits it brings to us is the extended reach, it is some 42 metres high which will reach approximately 15 storeys. It will give us the ability to reach the highest buildings in the Humber."

The ladder has an articulated cage at the end which can bend and it is equipped with thermal cameras to locate missing people or check where fires are in a building.

It can also act as a crane and lift up to four tonnes, the fire service said.

McKiniry said it can be quickly deployed at incidents.

"From arrival on scene it can be at full extension, so that's the full 42 metres, within approximately one minute," he said.

"[It is] is a significant enhancement on any previous vehicle we've had."

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