Most southerly Scania signs on

It's freezing cold, blanketed in snow and ice and not the first place you'd think of as posing a fire risk, but the world's most southerly Scania recently signed on for duty in the frozen wilderness of Antarctica.

More specifically, the truck is now stationed at the Norwegian Polar Institute's Troll research station, where it now supports the facility's airfield.

The truck was transported over 15,000 kilometres by sea and then a further 250 kilometres by sledge, as it was dragged across the glacial ice to its new home in Queen Maud Land.

The region subject to what are known as 'mild Antarctic weather conditions', with temperatures sometimes plummeting as low minus 60 degrees Celsius and wind speeds reaching up to 60 metres per second. During summer, the mercury generally hovers around zero degrees Celsius.

Despite the fire-truck fitout, the Scania's main mission is not to extinguish fires, but rather to maintain the airfield. Open to transport planes between November and February, the three-kilometre-long strip requires regular scraping and hosing down. Cracks in the ice must be filled with water, and this will now come from the water cannon on the Scania fire truck.

Stein Asgeir Egenes is the Managing Director of Norway’s Egenes Brannteknikk, the company that equipped the Scania vehicle.

"This fire truck has been adapted to cope with the low temperatures in Antarctica," he says.

"It's equipped with a so-called 'polar package' including a diesel heater, which also protects the water- and foam cannon on the roof against the cold."

The station, which is manned permanently, sees a staff of between 25 to 30 researchers in the summer fall to just half-a-dozen people during the winter. The station is used for conducting meteorological observations, measuring radiation, and for a range of research programs in fields such as glaciology, biology, and physics.

Kai Johannessen is Principal Engineer, Operations and Logistics, with the Norwegian Polar Institute.

"The fire truck will primarily be used on the Troll station's airfield," he says.

"In addition to this, it will be used as a conventional fire truck for the research station, although it will only be in service during the summer season. During the winter season, from February until November, it will be drained of fluids to prevent ice damage."

With the nearest service centre some 4500 kilometres away in South Africa, the staff at Troll has several years' supply of spare parts – both for the Scania chassis and its extra equipment.

"Our summer team at Troll have received training in managing and servicing the fire truck and they will in turn train the winter team when they take over," says Johannessen.

FAST FACTS
Chassis: Scania P550CB 4×4 550hp
Bodywork: Rosenbauer MBW (modular system)
Water tank capacity: 5600 litres
Foam tank capacity: 400 litres
Pump: Rosenbauer N55, 5500L/min at 10 bar
Tyre: SnowCross winter tyres with ice studs
Other: CAN-bus digital service and control system