BU04 FMG A West Midlands Fire Service Vauxhall Combo 1.7DI. Both rear doors display the two emergency telephone numbers for the UK: 999 and 112. ‘112’ was adopted in the 1990s to be the single emergency number that could be used in all European Union countries. It makes no difference which one you dial.
YR52 ODL A South Yorkshire Mercedes appliance.
YAB 254W This Dennis belongs to Kingston upon Hull Volunteer Emergency Services.
The side view shows the locker’s contents.
The rear aspect.
XAS 280V This Bedford CF van has no real livery. It is fitted with blue flashing lights and has silver locker doors on both sides.
The rear view shows the back opened to reveal a hose reel and pump.
WV52 CGK is a Mercedes Econic rescue unit operated by Wiltshire fire Brigade. It is based at Westlea fire station.
The rear view showing the lights fitted to this appliance. The top orange lights can be used as an arrow to direct traffic around the appliance either to the left or right.
The side view showing the battenburg markings over the lockers. Note that this appliance only has two crew.
CU03 AHV is the incident command unit used by Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service. This large truck is used to co-ordinate incidents and is equipped with rooms where the strategic planning can take place. Notice how the Welsh word for fire, tan, is also on the front of the truck.
The wording on the offside is in English, whilst on the nearside it is in Welsh. You can see from this picture that the telescopic lighting/communications tower is extended. You can also see the additional flood lighting around the side of the vehicle.
EO51 LUE This Peugeot camper van is used as emergency accommodation to people who have been made homeless due to a fire in their home. It is operated by volunteers of the Red Cross.
YB03 LUA This Ford Ranger is a F.I.R.E. – BIRD (Ferno International Rescue Equipment). It has a choice of five removable pods that are attached to the rear. The user can choose from water rescue, confined space and rope rescue, major accident rescue, fire rescue and major incident rescue and decontamination rescue.
YD04 NGB This 2.5-litre turbo diesel truck is the same as the one above, but shows pod 1: the water rescue unit. Notice how the roof still has blue flashing lights that are plugged into the cab. It is sensible to have specialist pods which remove the need to buy five vehicles, or a smaller number of large vehicles.
GTC 609X This is an old Dodge fire appliance used at Berkley Power Station as an incident response vehicle.
HOO 124T The Ford is another ex-private company fire engine. Notice the lack of livery and just ‘Fire Service’ written on the sides.
C317 HGB This ex-Strathcylde appliance has bodywork by Fulton Wylie and is a preserved demonstartor.
E755 HRV This old Bedford appliance is ex-Hampshire but has few clues to it’s current role. It has no writing on it, and the square blue lights down the sides have been replaced with amber lenses.
NK53 FDV This is a Durham & Darlington FRS Dennis Saber ML / Excalibur pump. It is being used as a driver training vehicle, and is seen here on a practice blue light run being driven by senior driving instructor SO Bob Clark.
NK04 WNR A rear shot of a similar Dennis shows how two adverts (in 2004) adorn the lockers and add to the Northumberland livery. This particular engine is based at Hexham.
E842 JYV This is an ex-London Fire Brigade 1988 Renault / Saxon appliance. It has all of its wording removed and is currently in preservation.
FKU 898V This is a preserved South Yorkshire appliance that was based at Barnsley.
N107 EOR A yellow LDV van used by Leistershire for equipment transportation.
NL02 OJN A white-fronted Cleveland Scania / Emergency One pump.
B537 GWB This preserved old Dennis is an ex-South Yorks. appliance that was based at Brampton Berlow.
TTV 954X A Nottinghamshire Fire Brigade engine that was used at for training before being retired.
M225 PHN This Dennis is a Cleveland Heavy Rescue Unit. Notice the crane located just behind the cab and the flared wheel arches to accommodate the wider track which aides stability.
The rear view of the same vehicle, which is based at Stockton.
DDC 1 This is a Cleveland Scania G93ML-280 hydraulic platform. It is rare to see a very old registration plate transferred to a new vehicle in the public fire service. It was first used in 1947 on a Dennis F-series pump based at Middlesborough Fire Station. It was transferred to Stockton’s first HP around 1978 and again on to this HP in 1990.
The rear view of the appliance, which is also based at Stockton.
M985 NVN A Renault Midliner flat-bed truck which is used for general purposes by Cleveland.
The rear aspect.
Y108 OJA is a Skoda Fabia 1.9 SDI Cleveland fire officer’s car.
F886 KRG This is a Seddon-Atkinson Cleveland Fire Brigade Incident Support Unit. The blue light bar has been placed behind the ‘fire rescue’ sign on top of the cab, meaning that it can’t be seen from the front!
AF02 JLO This white MAN truck is a Cleveland community fire safety display / office.
HPE 752V This Dennis is used by Serco at the International Fire Training Centre. Notice the amber light on the roof for use on airfields.
DG53 FWE This is one of a large number of Incident Response Units that the Government has purchased to respond to a terrorist attack in England and Wales. This one is fleet number ‘IRU 010’. These MAN trucks have been converted by Marshall Special Vehicles to carry a wide range of equipment useful for contamination and chemical attack situations among others.
The rear view. Notice the red and yellow battenburg livery and material sides. These slide back to reveal palettes of equipment stored inside. There are no marks to identify the fire brigade county that the vehicle is being used in (and hence they have a non-specific livery). This is because after training nationwide, these vehicles will be collected in, stored and deployed to whichever county needs them in an emergency.
To load and unload the palettes of equipment, this Moffett Mounty fork lift truck is attached to the rear. It is fitted with its own blue flashing light and can be used to move other objects at incident scenes. Scotland has three similar-looking Scania appliances for its terrorist response.
Here are the vehicles in action. The Moffet Mounty fork-lift is unloading two of the containers of equipment from the side of the MAN. Notice how the fork-lift has a blue flashing light, and can lift two containers at a time. The sides of the fire appliance are accessed by pulling back the curtain sides.
The rear view. The rear looks very different without the fork-lift in place. Look how the entire roof of the appliance has lifted by about half a metre to facilitate access to the containers. Each container is labeled (e.g. offside 3 upper) so that every appliance around the country has the same equipment stored in the same place.
K962 EYH This Volvo FL6.14 is one of a number owned by London Fire Brigade. The ‘pod’ on the rear is a control unit office. This is demountable and can be replaced by a breathing apparatus pod for example.
The rear view of the LFB control unit truck.