Young people design future fire engines for Cambridgeshire with Wisbech boy named among winners

A Wisbech boy is among the winners in a special competition run by the county’s fire service to mark a milestone anniversary.

The competition aimed to inspire young people to design the fire engine of the future, and Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service was delighted with the fantastic entries received.

To help celebrate its 50th birthday, the service launched the competition earlier this year, inviting local children to imagine and design their own futuristic fire engine, showcasing their creativity and understanding of what the service does, as well as thinking about how the technology could advance over the next 50 years.

After receiving more than 60 entries, the judging panel, consisting of colleagues from the Service as well as Scania, the current supplier of the Service’s fire engines, have chosen the winners.

The chosen winners and runners-up were awarded prizes and the opportunity to meet their local firefighters and to see a modern fire engine up close as well as have a go with some of the equipment firefighters use.

The competition was split into three age categories: 12 and over, eight to 11, and under seven. The prizes included a toy fire engine donated by Scania, a shopping voucher, a Lego set, and The Fire Fighters Charity bears for the runners-up.

Huxley from Wisbech, was the winner in the under seven category, with fellow Florence and Joshua from Burwell named runners-up in the same category.

Harriet from Ely won the eldest age group, and Noah from Ely was the winner in the eight to 11 category, with Luca from Huntingdon and Ralph from Cambridge runners-up

Assistant director Hayley Douglas, the service’s head of communication and engagement, said: “We were amazed by the incredible creativity and thoughtfulness of all the submissions. These young designers have provided us with a glimpse into the future of fire engines, so thank you to everyone who entered.”

Graham Wiggins, the fire service’s head of fleet and equipment services, added: “It was inspiring to see many of the entries include consideration for the environment with thought put into the materials used to build the fire engine and the inclusion of items such as solar panels.”

David Carter, specialist sales manager at Scania, said: “It was a pleasure to be involved in picking the best entries for this competition, it certainly wasn’t an easy task. Delivering some of these designs in the future will also be quite the challenge.”