'Still fit for purpose': Tasmania's newest fire truck arrives with defects

Wed 17 Jun 2026 at 3:06pm

Wed 17 Jun 2026 at 3:06pm

In short:

Kingston Fire Brigade, in Hobart's south, took delivery of a new fire-fighting truck last month that has since been found to have several manufacturing faults.

A list of defects has been listed, including an incorrectly fitted tyre and an emergency light that flashed pink.

What's next?

The Tasmania Fire Service says the truck will be taken out of service while warranty repairs are carried out.

The first of 15 new Tasmanian fire trucks to be deployed across the state was delivered with a number of defects, parliamentary questioning has revealed.

The urban pumper prototype, which was delivered to the Kingston Volunteer Fire Brigade last month, lists missing mud flaps, a wrongly fitted tyre and emergency lights that shine pink due to water ingress as issues to be rectified.

On delivery, the new 2.1 medium pumper also required a software update.

In question time on Tuesday, Labor's Dean Winter asked how a new emergency vehicle costing $600,000 could have passed quality assurance "with 17 defects", a figure since disputed by the Tasmania Fire Service (TFS).

In response, Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner Jeremy Smith has said that the prototype remains "still fit for purpose" and repairs would be "under warranty".

"As with any new piece of kit, we do have teething problems," Commissioner Smith said.

"What we're seeing is some minor defects that can be rectified or already have been rectified.

"It's still fit for purpose. However, we have decided to move it out of that role while we finalise all the upgrades."

A TFS spokesperson said the figure of "17 defects" was incorrect.

He said engineers from the Tasmanian Fire Service along with the truck's builders were working to ensure the pumper was fully compliant before it was reintroduced.

The new pumper will replace Kingston Fire Brigade's 30-year-old heavy tanker.

TFS Acting Deputy Chief Simon Pilkington said initial concerns about the pumper were raised last week but at "no point" had the vehicle been deemed unsafe to operate.

"The appliance was not delivered with an air leak, this is an issue that had recently been identified, with no associated mechanical fault report generated," Mr Pilkington said.

He said one of the vehicle's six tyres had been incorrectly fitted but this had since been fixed.

Mr Pilkington also said the vehicle "was not delivered with 'pink' emergency lighting".

"This has since been attributed to water ingress into a plug, which is currently being addressed.

"As with any project of this scale, some initial challenges have been encountered. However, these early lessons have been valuable and will help ensure a smoother transition into service for the remaining trucks to be rolled out across various locations throughout the state soon."

The vehicle is one of 15 fire trucks built at a cost of $12 million.