The Bermuda Fire and Rescue Service will be bolstered by the purchase of a new ladder truck and the recruitment of 12 additional firefighters in the coming fiscal year, according to Senator Jeff Baron.

The Minister of National Security said that once the 2017-18 budget had been approved by Parliamentarians, the hydraulic ladder platform vehicle could shipped to the island from Europe.

The older vehicle, known as Bronto, is nearly 20 years old and has been plagued by electronic circuitry difficulties in recent years that prevented it from playing any role in the service’s effort to tackle last year’s Front Street blaze.

“Negotiations have been ongoing for some time between the fire service and the supplier in Europe and they are now complete,” Mr Baron.

“Everyone is primed to start the process of getting a new ladder truck to Bermuda as soon as the budget has been debated and passed. We would like to see it here in Bermuda as soon as possible.

“The ability for the fire service to get to much higher levels is completely appropriate and absolutely critical given the height of some of the new builds we have. It is vital that they have all the tools to deal with every emergency they face.”

The Bermuda Fire and Rescue Service’s budget for the next fiscal year rose by $755,000 to $13,261,000.

During the fiscal period 2015-16 the fire service spent $47,696 to service and repair the old Bronto.

Mr Baron told The Royal Gazette that the increase in the service’s budget would pave the way for an additional 12 jobs.

“Having spoken with those in the fire service, it is clear that they need two things; the first is a new ladder truck, while the second is new staff.

“We hope that the budget for 2017-18 will allow for the recruitment of an additional 12 firefighters.

“The health and safety of fire service, whether it is administrative or on the ladder, is absolutely critical to Bermuda. They need to be able to do their job and as minister I will keep this a priority.”