A GOVERNMENT cash boost will see firefighters in Suffolk getting new equipment and training to help them tackle major incidents.Suffolk County Council is to receive a grant of £88,410 as part of a £3.

A GOVERNMENT cash boost will see firefighters in Suffolk getting new equipment and training to help them tackle major incidents.

Suffolk County Council is to receive a grant of £88,410 as part of a £3.2million government grant which is being given to England's Fire and Rescue Authorities.

The grant is part of the government's commitment to roll-out specialist equipment to deal with large incidents, involving chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear material.

Suffolk County Council will use the grant to support the vehicles in Suffolk that are part of the national response to major disruptive events and provide training about how to use them.

There is currently one of these vehicles in Colchester Road and another one is expected in May, which will be situated at Felixstowe.

A spokeswoman for Suffolk County Council said: “We are very pleased about the funding.

“It means we can tackle incidents, like chemical spills. It gets the message across that the fire service is a modern service and it's about more than fighting fires.”

Parmjit Dhanda, fire minister, said: “The New Dimension special equipment is vital to resilience and these latest grants to fire and rescue authorities show that the government remains committed to fund them to crew, host and accommodate this equipment. “Training is obviously vital to make best use of this equipment.”

The resources include mass decontamination units, detection, identification and monitoring of unknown, potentially dangerous chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear substances, rescue equipment for use in collapsed buildings, and high volume pumps for use in floods.

What do you think of this new grant? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk