VICSES Alexandra Unit to blaze new trail with brand-new rescue truck
Victoria State Emergency Service (VICSES) Alexandra Unit volunteers have received a welcome boost to their rescue capability, adding a first-of-its-kind medium rescue truck (MRT) to their vehicle bay to greatly improve members’ ability to navigate their diverse response area.
The state-of-the-art truck, which is the first of the VICSES MRT fleet to be fitted with an Allison Automatic Transmission, is specially designed to increase performance across steep and challenging terrain such as in the Black Range State Forest and when responding alongside neighbouring units in the Cathedral Range State Park.
The vehicle was funded by VICSES as part of the organisation’s commitment to improving performance and drivability for volunteers across the state, with VICSES the first Australasian Fire Authorities Council (AFAC) member agency to implement the uprated transmission modification in this model of vehicle.
VICSES Alexandra Unit’s brand-new vehicle underwent rigorous testing as part of VICSES’ Drive Days event at Creswick earlier this year, when volunteers carried out side-by-side comparisons with regular MRT models to better understand improvements in the vehicle’s performance.
VICSES Alexandra Unit’s existing 2016 MRT will be repurposed to strengthen capability elsewhere in the VICSES fleet later this year. Local members are now training and familiarising themselves with their brand-new MRT before it officially becomes their primary rescue appliance in the coming weeks.
While the vehicle will allow more efficient travel throughout the region, the new MRT also comes equipped with a suite of state-of-the-art Holmatro Pentheon hydraulic equipment to bolster the unit’s ability to provide life-saving road crash rescue (RCR) response in Alexandra and surrounding communities.
The handheld, battery-powered cutters and spreaders no longer require members to tether the equipment to a vehicle power source, allowing for greater manoeuvrability and improved ability to access and retrieve entrapped patients.
The Pentheon suite is widely used across VICSES’ RCR fleet, with 104 RCR-accredited units across the state called to more than 2,500 RCR incidents in 2025/26.
It marked the fourth consecutive yearly increase in RCR-related incidents for VICSES and signified the service’s busiest road crash rescue year on record.
The vehicle upgrade follows a busy year for VICSES Alexandra Unit volunteers, who were called to more than 170 incidents in 2025/26, including almost 100 for storm and nearly 20 relating to road incidents.
To find out more about volunteering with VICSES, visit www.ses.vic.gov.au/join-us.
Quotes attributable to Chris Brockwell, VICSES Assistant Chief Officer, Asset Capability Advisor
“VICSES Alexandra Unit’s uprated MRT is an exciting first for VICSES and an important addition to the unit’s emergency response capacity.
“With the state-of-the-art equipment they need, members will be better able to provide timely and efficient response in all corners of their community and save lives in the process.”
