"Thunderbird" aid to firefighters

The grant aid announced by Fire Minister Parmjit Dhanda comes as part of the Government's ongoing commitment to support the introduction of specialist New Dimension equipment.

The grant is largely for training for mass decontamination response units as well as additional protective clothing for use during work on collapsed buildings.

Fire and rescue services in the South East will share a total of over half a million pounds.

As a national resource, the New Dimension equipment is hosted by England's 46 Fire and Rescue Authorities but is easily transportable in modules - with echoes of television's Thunderbirds children's series.

The resources include mass decontamination units, detection, identification and monitoring of unknown and potentially-dangerous chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear substances, rescue equipment for use in collapsed buildings, and high-volume pumps for use in floods.

The Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser found in his report that the high-volume pumps proved to be invaluable in protecting critical local infrastructure.

The Fire Minister said: "The New Dimension special equipment is vital to resilience and these latest grants to Fire and Rescue Authorities show that the Government remains committed to fund them to crew, host and accommodate this equipment. Training is obviously vital to make best use of this equipment."

Firefighter training for use of New Dimension equipment is being fully funded by the Government. Some 50,000 firefighters have received basic awareness training for mass decontamination and will shortly receive basic training relating to rescues in collapsed buildings.