The department stores a wide range of equipment used for various tasks and functions. The following gives an overview of the types of equipment used.
- Domestic firefighting equipment which will include firefighting appliances (fire Trucks). At present there are two types of fire appliances - Water tenders and non-water tenders. Water tenders are fire trucks which carry on-board tanks equipped with a fire pump which is capable of dispensing firefighting media at high volume. While some firefighting apparatus don’t carry an on-board tanks or (non-water tenders) these are fitted with a fire pump which is capable of lifting water from other sources be it natural (e.g. rivers, streams, the sea or man-made structures such as swimming pools, dams, fish ponds, canals. These appliances can also be pressure fed via fire hydrants.
- Ladder trucks play a vital role in fire services around the world. They are mechanical ladders which are mounted on to a fire fighting apparatus. These take the place of manually mounting ladders where rescue needs to be performed or simply to gain height advantage over a structure during firefighting operations. These also allow for overhead view, as some of these ladders can be extended over 60 feet varying in size and lengths, allowing the modern fire fighter to gain access to buildings and structure that tower overhead.
- Fire pumps - Portable pumps are different from the pumps that are mounted on the fire apparatus. Although these pumps are generally fitted on the firefighting apparatus, they are not permanent and can be easily removed. They are mainly used in areas where a body of water is present or inaccessible by the fire apparatus. In some cases they have to be carried to the water’s edge to be utilized. Pumps can also be used as a means of boosting the water pressure between the water source and apparatus such as water relays. They also play an important role in the movement of water from one area to the next, e.g. removing unwanted water from flooded areas or filling pools and tanks.
- Ropes, caribinas, pulleys, mechanical ascenders and descenders are just some of the equipment used by trained search and rescue personnel; stoke baskets are used for recovering patients from the natural environment, floating spine boards, harnesses, helmets, gloves, boots, helmet and lamps are all part of the tools used during search and rescue operations.