Half a million dollars of shiny red steel rolled into Carterton station this week, heralding a new era of protection for Wairarapa scrubland.
The 14,500-litre fire tanker is the only one of its kind in the country and was specifically designed and built by the national fire service in Auckland.
Carterton was
chosen as the location of the eight-wheel juggernaut after the station put a case to national headquarters three years ago that stressed Wairarapa had not had its own tanker in years.
Fire chief Wayne Robinson said that from Carterton's central location they could back up firefighters anywhere in the region.
"For grass fires and scrub fires it's going to make a huge difference, five to 10 minutes behind our engines we have 14,500 litres of water."
He said the tanker could also douse building fires and may have changed the outcome at the Masterton recycling plant in late October.
The tanker has only been tested once, recently helping emergency workers in the Christchurch earthquake who were desperate for extra firefighting capability.
"They were very disappointed, they didn't want to lose it," Mr Robinson said of the impressive vehicle.
John Sutherland, the fire service's national adviser of operations, said because of the cost to develop the tanker it was likely to be the only one built.
They would take what they had learnt from it and devise new tankers but they would probably be modified vehicles rather than built from scratch.
The tanker had twin rear axle drive, anti-skid features and tank baffles to stop water from sloshing about that could make driving dangerous.
"It's probably got more safety features than your car might have," said Mr Sutherland.
It was designed with two other tankers half the size of Carterton's vehicle.
The fire service has only about a dozen vehicles across the country that it owns; most are second-hand vehicles - previously owned by companies such as Fonterra - and run by firefighters but owned by community groups.
Principal rural fire officer Phill Wishnowsky said they had been hanging out for a new tanker for years. The last tanker a Wairarapa fire service possessed was one bought by Masterton District Council but it was decommissioned because it was not roadworthy.
