TRUCKS TO SPARE

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 226, 19 June 1943, Page 4

TRUCKS TO SPARE

Fire Brigade Presented With Sixteen

•Some sharp comment was made by members of the Wellington Fire Board when it was disclosed at yesterday’s meeting that 16 three-ton American chassis had 'been delivered, to the Central Fire Brigade Station, and' were standing in the open in all weathers. The superintendent, Mr. C. A. Woolley, mentioned that ibefore they were brought in to town they had Ibeen standing for months in the open in a Government vehicle park at Porirua. At the beginning of last year it was thought necessary to have some form of light truck to tow the (E.FjS. trailer pumps to the scene of any fire or practice action, and, in the absence of such haulage power, taxis were commandeered for the purpose, but it was never expected that three-ton trucks would 'lie provided. That, according to the chairman, Mr. S. S. Dean, .was like 'using an elephant to do a dog’s work. It transpired that the chassis had been sent along 'by the Dominion Fire Controller (Mr. Girling Butcher) ; other than that no one appeared to have any knowledge of them. •' Mr. M. Fraser said that in view of the fact that Mr. Woolley had taken delivery of them, the board, he supposed, had some responsibility in taking care of national property. "The thing is,” said Mr. Dean, "that these chassis have been dumped on to us, and we don't know what to do with them. We haven’t even room to store them. It appears that the Government had 60 of these chassis, imported for E.F.S. purposes, and, after their arrival months ago, they were kept in a depot at Porirua till a distribution among the brigades was decided on. They were brand-new chassis. We want to know why they are here and on what terms.”

It was decided to refer.the matter to the Dominion Fire Controller for elucidation.