Author: ukemergency

This is the line up of firefighting vehicle at Newcastle Airport in 2010. The three primary response engines are Rosenbauer Pathfinders. Left to right is engine 1 to 3, YK55 CCA, YJ07 AAF and YJ07 AAE.

YJ07 AAF Here a Newcastle Rosenbauer Pathfinder demonstrates its water monitors by spraying a demonstration rig.

Watch a video of this vehicle in action!

NC04 LPZ is a Ford Ranger 4×4 Turbo Diesel. It is used by Newcastle International Airport’s fire service. It carries a orange and green stripe down the side on top of a white and purple colour scheme. It is fitted with a light bar on the roof that can show amber or blue lights.

WP05 NBO This silver Mitsubishi Shogun is an Airport Fire Incident Command vehicle. It is used for support work at Leeds-Bradford Airport.

A line up of fire appliances at Leeds Bradford Airport in 2008. Left to right: L649 YDG a Simon Protector, R413 BNF a Boughton Barracuda and YB02 BZP a Carmichael Cobra 2.

Two Stornoway Airport fire appliances, both Simon Protectors.

J39 FJS This is a Simon Gloster Saro Protector which is part of the Highlands & Islands Airports Limited fleet, based at Inverness.

This unregistered Land Rover fire engine is used at Compton Abbas Airfield in Dorset. It is fitted with blue and amber flashing beacons and carries basic fire fighting equipment.

MX53 ZTB This is a Scania engine that is used at Manchester Airport. It has a 11.7 litre engine and is registered so it can be used outside of the airport if needed. It is a similar size to county fire engines.

G175 SCH is a GMC small fire appliance used at Elvington, North Yorkshire. After many years sitting in the garages, it has been fixed and is operational.

Q473 VWP This Range Rover (with bodywork by Carmichael) is used for airfield fire cover at the Ulster Flying Club, Northern Ireland.

GDZ 5909 This is one of the fleet of airport fire vehicles that are used at Belfast International Airport.

RZ 03 AA This is a Unipower / Carmichael fire engine that is used at RAF Fairford, Gloucestershire.

This Land Rover Discover 3 is a brightly-coloured fire car in use at Belfast International.

This photo shows a pair of airport fire tenders from Carlisle Airport. Notice the striking yellow and blue colour-scheme and the blue light and foam monitor on the roof.

L53 CAD This is a Simon Gloster Saro Protector 6×6 fire appliance used at Humberside International Airport. The vehicle wears an unusual day glow yellow livery rather then the traditional red. It is fitted with both blue flashing lights and an orange beacon to increase its visibility even further.



The rear view of the same vehicle showing the radiator for its massive engine.

R761 NFW This Boughton Barracuda is one of three used by Humberside International Airport. When fully laden it weighs 32 tonnes and has a top speed of over 70 mph. This is one-third of a million pound appliance features both a roof mounted and a front mounted water monitors to extinguish fires with.



The rear view of the Barracuda. Just visible are the floodlights which can be telescopically extended upwards to provide illumination at the scene of an incident.

K359 DSG This Volvo FL6 fire appliance is used by the Young Firefighters group at Edinburgh airport.

YK55 CCA is a Rosenbauer Panther Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting Vehicle which was new to Newcastle International Airport in September 2005. This vehicle features many innovative features such as remote controlled roof and bumper turrets for spraying water and an windscreen which can clear water droplets instantly without the use of windscreen wipers.



The rear view of the same vehicle. The all wheel drive truck has two diesel engines, with one used for propulsion and the other for pumping water and foam and has a top speed of 115 km/h.



It is seen here wearing its purple and white corporate livery next to the airport’s fire training rig.

M803 LCN is a Carmichael International Cobra 2 6×6 crash rescue tender, also from Newcastle Airport. This vehicle provided the front line fire cover at the airport along with the Rosenbaur.

Appliances F953 JRG and J912 PUP with Toyota Hi-Lux pick up S119 BVK join the above vehicles in the line up at Newcastle Airport’s runway-side fire station.

VE51 XOS Here we have a Carmichael Cobra 2 that is used at the International Fire Training Centre.



The rear view of the same appliance. Notice how the supplementary blue lights are seamlessly integrated with the usual driving lights on the rear light clusters.

PX55 OSF This tri-axle Land Rover conversion is a fast response fire engine for airfield use. It is a demonstrator from Yorkshire-based Angloco. The most prominent feature is the roof-mounted foam / water cannon. This can begin to quell flames or cover a fuel leak with foam as the vehicle arrives on the scene.



The rear view of the Land Rover. It is fitted with blue lights (to the front only), white lights down the sides to illuminate the scene and an amber light for airfield driving. The roof-mounted ladders can be seen as well as a telescopic floodlight.

YMJ 597L This Land Rover series 3 has a large water pump on the front, as well is ladders and other equipment on the roof. It has blue flashing lights on the front and rotating beacons on the roof.

D264 YPJ is a Land rover 110 operated by a private company. It is seen here at a temporary helipad in York during the Royal Ascot horse races.



It tows a specially designed trailer carrying a water tank, a foam tank and a hose reel.

Here we have a large, yellow 8 wheeled airfield crash tender. It has registration ’96 L 6′ and is an Emergency-One/Teledyne/Continental Motors Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting P-23 from the United States Air Force (Europe) demonstrating “Jet Throw” at Royal Air Force Fairford. It is fairly unusual to see this colour scheme used by USAF Crash Vehicles outside of the United States.

RZ 00 AA and RU 86 AA Here are two airport fire tenders next to a mock-up of a helicopter which was supplied by IFTE (International Fire Training Equipment) for firefighting and rescue practice.

SSC 73P This Land Rover is used by the Cumbernauld airport crash rescue team as a fire appliance.

JOR 359P This Land Rover is a hybrid of series II, series III and military parts. It is used as an emergency response unit at Rufforth airfield, North Yorkshire.



The rear view, showing the relatively small array of fire fighting equipment carried. This vehicle is used because the Civil Aviation Authority requires there to be some form of fire cover at airfields.

DWR 120W This Land Rover Series III Lightweight is privately owned as is used at Elvington airfield in Yorkshire. It is fitted with a blue rotating beacon for emergency use and an orange rotating beacon for airfield use. It is simply liveried with a yellow stripe.

VRJ 100S is an early tri-axle Range Rover TACR. This model is equipped with a foam monitor on the roof as well as flood lighting equipment.

F257 THY is another 6×4 Range Rover. It is considerably different to the model above as this has a second row of seating in the cab, different wing mirrors, grill and bull bar and lacks a foam monitor on the roof. This vehicle was previously used the the Ministry of Defence fire service.

30 AG 87 This Dennis is a preserved example of a Royal Air Force Fire and Rescue appliance. Notice the large boom protruding from the roof. This allows foam or water to be sprayed onto a fire as the appliance arrives.

B856 SAJ This tri-axel Range Rover is a ‘Defence Fire Services’ aircraft crash rescue appliance. Notice the roof-mounted ladders and floodlight, and a number of blue lights, but no light bar.

E742 PFV Another Range Rover, this time three years newer and belonging to the Royal Air Force.

F743 MDN This Range Rover is an ex-RAF fire fighting vehicle owned by Hields Aviation. It is used as ground support for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance as well as private purposes. On this frontal view, notice the large winch which means that the registration plate has had to be moved to the bonnet.



The front/side view shows that this vehicle has three axels. It can be switched between four-wheel drive and six-wheel drive. On smooth high speed roads it wallows around and is more at home off-road.



The rear view showing the locker, roof-mounted ladders and spotlight.

KAY 39V is an open-top yellow Landrover 88 which is used for fire and emergency rescue cover at Breighton Airfield, North Yorkshire. Notice the upturned ‘Hello!’ on the front of the nearside wing. It is designed so that it can be read by a pilot in a upturned crashed plane as the rescue vehicle approaches!



The rear view of the Landrover showing the fire extinguishers and other equipment carried in the back. The vehicle is owned and run by The Real Aeroplane Company Ltd.

This is a Thorney Croft Nubian Major, with a 1500 gallon water tank and fitted with an Albany foam pump and a Cummins Diesel engine. The power plant is a Perkins diesel 17 litre engine with 5 semi automatic forward gears and 1 reverse.  It carries a crew of 5.

MYH 182P is a Chubb spearhead light foam tender.

Thorney Croft appliances at Duxford Airfield.



The second appliance.

D797 LFL is a Range Rover from an MOD contract from 1973/74. It has a 4-man cab and carries 200 gallons of premixed foam.

D374 EAD at Duxford airfield.

PUS 270M and another appliance at Duxford.

RUL 782R is a Chubb spearhead light foam tender at Duxford.

G175 SCH A ‘G’ registration General Motor Company off-road vehicle being worked on at the Yorkshire Air Museum.

A 1979 airport fire Ford Transit. This vehicle is currently out of use and was festering behind a hanger at the Yorkshire Air Museum before an enthusiast bought it and it was renovated back to full working order.

An old Landrover SWB fire vehicles from Rufforth Airfield, North Yorkshire.

WNE 371L This is a Reynolds Broughton Chubb ‘Pathfinder’ airfield fire appliance seen at the Yorkshire Air Museum, at Elvington near York. Although a museum, the airfield occasionally receives some flights. The appliance is mainly there to protect the exhibits.



It was initially used by Manchester International Airport Fire service. It is built on a ‘Griffin’ 6-wheel drive high performance chassis at has a top speed of about 60 mph. This vehicle is immense. It measures 37’4″ (12.9m) long, 10′ (3.4m) wide and 13’7″ (5.0m) high.



This vehicle is design for a crew of four, but can be operated by only one person. This model dates back to 1972. The pathfinder was awarded the Design Council’s Engineering award in 1974 in respect of its then advanced design.

B233 XMY Also to be found at Elvington is this 1984 Range Rover rapid intervention vehicle. It is ultimately quicker than the Pathfinder, but can only carry a limited amount of supplies.



It is different to a normal range rover by having an additional set of driven wheels, making it 6-wheel drive. It is powered by a Rover V8 engine, and had a separate water pump.