Firefighters in Carlow begin operating fire engine fuelled by vegetable oil

Eva Osborne

Firefighters in Carlow have made history this week, with the world's first solar0powered, battery-operated fire engine, fuelled by hydrotreated vegetable oil.

The climate-friendly fire engine, which has its home in Carlow town, began operating this week.

It was built locally in Tullow, and will see its carbon footprint slashed by 95 per cent compared to diesel engines.

Former chief fire officer for Carlow County Council, Liam Carroll, said as well as running the vehicle, the vegetable oil is being used to extinguish fires.

"It's in our headquarters station in Carlow town doing 300/400 calls a year, so it's going to get a lot of testing over the coming weeks and months," he said.

"People mightn't be aware of as well, it's a very large pump, so it's a vehicle but what goes on behind the lockers, when you lift the lockers and open the doors, it carries nearly 2,000 litres of water.

"There's a very high-powered pump that's driven from the main engine on the vehicle as well.

"The HVO fuel, the vegetable oil, is actually driving that pump. So we're actually using vegetable oil to extinguish fires as well."