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Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) has become one of the first services in the UK to add a firefighting robot to its equipment.

The new piece of technology will be used to protect firefighters and reduce the impact of an incident on the community.

It will be sent into large incidents, such as fires at industrial and commercial sites, which are particularly difficult and risky to help give firefighters a better understanding of what they’re dealing with.

The robot can record video, has thermal capabilities to check where the hotspots are, uses audio to speak to people, can give instructions and can even help remove people from areas with a stretcher. 

It’s also capable of helping fight the fires with a hose attachment that can spray up to 2,000 litres of water a minute.  
 
Mark, Group Manager at Kent Fire and Rescue Service, said: “This is a really exciting addition for us. We’re always developing new tactics, and we want to have the best resources at incidents.

“There are three main reasons why we’ve introduced it into the service and that is keeping firefighters safe, reducing the number of resources at an incident and limiting the amount of time we’re there.

“This robot drives our service forward in our ability to help keep firefighters safe and to provide the best response we can.”

Crew from the Technical Rescue team have completed their training on how to use the robot, which is controlled by a remote console, but say that the full potential of how it can be utilised is still to be discovered.

Carl, Technical Rescue at KFRS, added: “The robot can gather a range of intelligence that can then be fed back to the crews, who are a safe distance away.

“Any innovative technology that we utilise in the service to improve the safety of personnel is vital. The robot has got a lot of capabilities and potential and we will learn from this in time when it’s used at incidents.

“It’s like when we started flying drones in the service, we knew what they could do but not the extent of how they could be used. Now they’re a tool which we utilise for a range of different incidents. The robot will already bring so much to the service, but there’ll be lots more it can do!”

The robot will be out responding to incidents across the county in the next few weeks.