Cleveland Fire Brigade expands fleet with new Skodas

Skoda will supply 14 fully converted Octavia Scout models to Cleveland Fire Brigade.

Under the new contract, the Octavias will operate over 370 square miles in the North East of England.

The vehicles will be used by officers attending emergency response incidents such as large-scale fires and road traffic collisions.

Cleveland Fire Brigade currently runs a 125-strong fleet to support 560,000 people and 249,000 dwellings in the area.

It chose the Octavia Scout for its combination of space, low fuel consumption, reliability and value for money.

With rugged 4x4 ability and additional underbody protection, the Octavia Scout also helps to ensure the fire crew can attend situations no matter the terrain.

The vehicles are provided on a three-year lease deal through the Volkswagen Financial Services Fleet – Public Sector Team.

Karen Winter, director of corporate services at Cleveland Fire Brigade, said: “This lease deal has allowed us to standardise our fleet, and provide vital vehicles to our Flexible Duty Officers to respond to incidents quickly and safely, in all types of conditions.”

The vehicles are equipped with RSG blue light equipment installed by Cygnal and the cars also feature a run lock system. This allows the keys to be removed from the ignition whilst the engine is still running to keep the emergency lights on without causing the battery to go flat.