hey, a question.
which SES unit has the most response vehicles? Is it sturt with 5?
Please remember that metro SES Units have built equipment standards so that they can respond to multiple incidents at the same time. For example, a storm can generate 30+ jobs for one Unit in a night.
The response to a single life threat incident has only been occuring in the metro region for the approximately the past two years. So we are still adapting equipment.
New vehicles are being issued at the moment after the SA government released the budget. I believe a flat-bed truck with tailgate lifter is heading for a south metro Unit and some replacement 4wd's are arriving soon.
I am not absolutely sure, but I believe Western Adelaide, Sturt, Metro South and Tea Tree Gully have 5 or more vehicles. Each Unit also has multiple trailers.
A problem at the moment is that the Unit's cannot accomodate the equipment. To expand the land & buildings will cost $$$$$$.
I was speaking to one Unit member this morning of a southern Adelaide Unit (not Sturt SES). They have 2 trucks, 3 4wd's, 3 specialist trailers and a tandem trailer.
Unit membership is 40 people with a waiting list. They do intake once per year.
Compared to a northern metro Unit which has 1 truck and 1 4wd. They have one flood pump trailer and a tandem trailer. Currently they have just over 20 members but are actively recruiting. This Unit does not have the facilities to store all of the equipment.
So the metro units do have alot of equipment and some is very specialised (BA, USAR, flood, lighting, etc). But because of the cost of metro land and buildings, units are spread out more when you consider the population.
To accomodate this problem, all first response vehicles / equipment are stored at Unit's LHQ and some of the second response / general trailers are stored at Unit members homes.
Some Units like the SES Dog Unit have all of their equipment and vehicles in Unit members homes. They do not have a headquarters buildings but share a section of another Units.
In country regions, the SES are more setup via history for single response life threat incidents. But Kapunda have multiple vehicles and trailers to transport the horses / quad bikes. I do not know other country Unit equiment levels.