Bad parking and congested town centres can add minutes to a fire engine’s journey, minutes that could make the difference between life and death.

In response, Kent Fire and Rescue Service is planning to buy 29 small fire engines that should be able to negotiate the county’s busier roads and tighter residential streets.

The fire engines – which will resemble a scaled-down version of the traditional vehicles – will be cheaper and more lightly equipped, but will offer more speed and manoeuvrability according to Kent fire chiefs.

Chris Colgan, area manager of operational policy and development, said: “What we’ve seen over the years is fire engines have got bigger and bigger and bigger, and they are carrying more and more equipment.

“We’re saving the true life-saving resources for when they are really needed, so we’re not sending the whole lot out to a car alight in a field or a bin fire” - Chris Colgan

“It’s like filling up your tool box with everything thinking ‘I might need that one day’.

“But when you analyse it, what equipment do we use most often? We actually use 40% of the kit 80% of the time so we’re taking kit that is useful but is seldom used.”

Nationally, response times to 999 calls have been creeping up for more than a decade according to figures from the Office of National Statistics, a trend often blamed on increased traffic.

Kent’s smaller vehicles will weigh in at about 12 tonnes, compared to 16 tonnes for a full-sized fire engine.

Area manager Colgan said the idea of a more compact fire engine is popular with crews, especially drivers.

“You imagine the incredible pressures they are under to get a crew to a scene,” he said.

“You’ve got a very tight residential road to get down, the pressure is on to get to those people and there is the potential that you struggle to get the larger fire engines down between parked cars.”

But although they may allow drivers to better negotiate busy roads, will the smaller, more lightly equipped fire engines leave crews wanting when they reach a blaze?

Not according to Chris Colgan.

“We’re saving the true life-saving resources for when they are really needed, so we’re not sending the whole lot out to a car alight in a field or a bin fire,” he said.

“For the more mundane, lower risk activities, you send out the smaller fire engines which frees up the ones that have the life-saving cutting equipment and other specialist equipment.

“It’s so we’re not sending people and equipment needlessly. We’re being more intelligent with our resources and we’re basing that on info from the scene.

“These are going to be basic fire engines that will be used to deliver water and people and the most commonly used kit, so they get there quicker, they are more manoeuvrable and they’re cheaper.”

Kent Fire and Rescue Service is currently deciding on the specific equipment the new engines will carry, and will then look for a supplier.

But fire chiefs have decided the new engines are likely to carry compressed air foam that can be used to tackle fires directly, or sprayed on buildings and cars nearby to form a protective layer and prevent a blaze spreading.

Compressed air foam uses less water than traditional fire fighting methods making it particularly suitable for tackling blazes in rural areas where water is limited.

The 29 new fire engines will be distributed around the county, and will be in service in 12 to 18 months’ time.