Romania tries to renew its stock of old fire trucks and ambulances

Almost half of the fire trucks in Romania are over 30 years old but the country plans to replace its old stock with EU money. “Over 40% of the fire trucks are 30 years old and over. […] Now, over 30% are less than 10-year old,” said Raed Arafat, state secretary within the Interior Ministry. Arafat hopes old cars will become history in two – three years, should the ongoing EUR 600 million tender be successful. The funds allotted from this budget would allow to buy some 500 fire trucks. Bucharest will also have 13 new firefighter units, with fund allotted for four of them this year. Emergency intervention services in Romania are also equipped with old ambulances, many of which already a mileage above 1 million kilometers, according to Arafat. Over 60% of the ambulances used by the Ambulance Service and by the emergency rescue service SMURD are older than ten years. Tenders are ongoing for three types of ambulances, and the first new ones should arrive this year. editor@romania-insider.com