THE sighs of relief from Pumper Tanker 22's crew when their jinxed truck makes it to a fire scene are sometimes as loud as from the people they're helping.

MFB officers assigned to the chronically defective vehicle can never be certain it will arrive intact.
The fault-ridden fire engine has needed repairs costing $370,000 since it hit the road in late 2002 at an initial cost of about $600,000.
Problems have stretched from bumper to bumper, with crews at times unable to accelerate, blow the horn, rewind the hoses, open the doors, turn on the air-con or use the flashing lights.
The problematic pumper has spent 573 days at the mechanic's workshop, more than a fifth of its life.
Its first failure - a faulty horn - happened less than a fortnight after it was commissioned.
The Herald Sun used Freedom of Information laws to obtain the truck's 10-page MFB maintenance log detailing more than 500 faults.
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Jessica Watson 'not fazed' by teen sail rival
CHRISTINE KELLETT
January 25, 2010 - 2:00PM

Photo: Steve Holland

Solo sailor Jessica Watson is not fazed by an attempt to snatch the youngest circumnavigation record just a month after ...