Austral Cougar

In the early 1980s a new type of Rapid Intervention Vehicle (RIV) entered ARFF service. Designed and built by Austral Specialised Transport of Queensland, these were mounted on a Mack chassis and are approximately 14.7 tonnes in weight.

Firefighting equipment was supplied by Konrad Rosenbauer of Austria. At service entry they were one of the largest RIVs in the world. They were also the fastest vehicles in ARFF service, with a maximum speed of 109 km/h and acceleration from 0 to 80 km/h in 20 seconds.

The Cougars are four wheel drive with auto transmission and powered by a V8 Cummins air-start diesel that also drove the pump via a Power Take-Off (PTO). They carry 2,000 litres of water, 200 litres of Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF) and the pump is capable of delivering 20,000 litres per minute of produced foam through either a roof mounted Rosenbauer monitor, handlines, or Ne-Pi-Ro high pressure (1,500 kPa) hosereel.

They have 180 kg of Dry Chemical Powder (DCP) that could be delivered through a hosereel and carry an extensive range of rescue equipment and Breathing Apparatus (BA) for the crew of three.