Category: Fire (General)

G429 KBO York’s turntable ladders. This vehicle was replaced with a larger vehicle in Spring 2002.



A close-up of the front of York’s turntable ladders.

Here we see a NYF&R engine and crew practicing extrications on an old white van.

A London Fire Service Volvo FL6 appliance at the Biggin Hill Airshow in 2001. The emergency crews unfortunately had a busy weekend with two fatal crashes.

Here is an overview of the London Fire Brigade workshops at Lambeth.

A NYF&R Peugeot van with a trailer of equipment for fire prevention training, including extinguishers and a chip-pan-fire simulation.

P794 CHN A P-reg Volvo FL6 NYF&R decontamination unit, based at the Selby station. The decontamination portacabin is demountable.

YD52 TWW Here is a photograph of NYF&R’s Bronto Skylift. This ‘first’ is a very low vehicle, designed to fit into older fire stations and driven under low bridges. It cost £320,000 and is being used for training before being permanently stationed at York in 2003.



The rear of the above appliance. Fire engines have got lots of computerised equipment on board today, as seen behind the hatch. Near the top of the picture are the four wooden rests used to level the ground under the stabilisers.



A close up of one of the controls under the flap. The display is showing the safe operating limits of the boom (as detected by the computer) as well as the engine’s manning and other variables.

A rare sight is this ‘Thompsons’ company fire engine. For health and safety, many large companies run their own mini fire service. This ex-airport tender was spotted on a large construction site in Gateshead.

B537 GWB Here we see a B registration South Yorkshire fire appliance. It is a privately owned example and is not in service.

T827 JKH A T plate Humberside Fire Brigade Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 412D. This van is used for engineering support and is fitted with a amber flashing light bar with the working ‘fire’.

G73 NAG A side shot of a G registration Dennis appliance. This is one of five identical vehicles that were bought in 1989. It seems to be suffering from the firefighters request for a pay rise, being covered in a number of yellow ‘Y’ support stickers.



The front / side view, showing the lighting and livery layout.

R512 MPY is one of a pair of foam / water carrying appliances bought by NYF&RS in 1998. The identical sister vehicle is R513 MPY. They are Volvo FL6.18 trucks with specialist touches including massive tanks and silver grilles and bumpers.



The side view, showing the petrol-tanker style bodywork supplied by Massey Tankers. A fixed ladder is on the nearside to allow access to the top of the tank.



The rear view. The water level meter can be seen alongside a locker and the blue warning lamps. This appliance often travels long distances to incidents and is sometimes on the run empty. This means that it can get about far faster and then use its powerful vacuum pump at an incident to fill up.

NX03 JZL is a Volvo fire appliance based at Tadcater, North Yorkshire. It is a rescue unit built by Excalibur Specialist Vehicles and was new in April 2003.



The side view of the same engine, showing the lack of roof mounted ladders and large amount of lockers. This engine carries a small dinghy (oar-powered) for use on standing water.

WF52 XVP A North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service 52-plate Volkswagen Golf estate fire car. This VW is fitted with a roof blue light and two strobe repeaters below the registration plate, as well as a siren.

A 1998 South Yorkshire Mercedes-Benz 1124F rescue pump in Sheffield.

NU52 RGX One of four Volvo FL6H-based appliances built by Cummock-based Emergency One UK for North Yorkshire F&RS. This engine was based at York for a few days before being moved to Selby. This happened because this was the first of a newer, wider Volvo that struggled to negotiate the narrow streets of the city of York.

A NYF&RS decontamination demountable pod based at Selby.

TD52 TWW A Mercedes Bronco Syklift appliance in use. Its stabilisers can be seen which allow the boom to move to a greater number of positions without risking tipping the appliance over.



The lift can be used to reach over obstacles, not just to reach heights. Here the operator is working the controls from the seated position at the base of the boom.



There are duplicate controls in the cradle, which allow the operator to move themselves about to great accuracy. Here the cradle looks to be hovering a few inches above the ground, some distance from the appliance.



A close-up look at the controls. The advanced electronics prohibits the user from moving the cradle to a position that could risk tipping the appliance.

EX02 WFB This is a shot of an 02 registration Nissan Almera fire car belonging to London Fire Brigade.



The rear view of an identicle vehicle. LFB have a fleet of these cars which run on liquid petroleum gas (LPG).

FKU 898Y This is a South Yorkshire Fire Service Dennis appliance. Now in preservation, this 1980 appliance was originally stationed at Barnsley. Notice how the same livery is being used through to the early 2000’s.

NU52 HUJ This is a 52 plate Iveco Daily Environmental Protection Unit from Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service.



The rear view showing the plain red rear.

STY 31S This is 1977 S-reg Dennis rescue tender from Durham County Fire Brigade.

D118 HHN This is a 1986 (Communist) East German Trabant 601S fire car. It was donated to Cleveland County Fire Brigade by German fire services. The Trabant is powered by a two-stroke engine and has plastic bodywork.

Q288 YAW This is a 1969 TACR1 (Truck Airfield Crash Rescue, Mark 1). It is one of 78 built by HCB Angus and served at RNAS Daedalus until 1988. It is Landrover hybrid with a 2.25 litre petrol engine.

B856 SAJ This is a B registration aircraft crash rescue Range Rover.

This is one of London Fire Brigade’s boats, based on the Thames at Lambeth.

NL02 OJN This is a 2002 Cleveland Scania P94D appliance.

NK03 HPL Here is a 2003 Dennis Sabre fire appliance, callsign ‘Quebec Zero One’. This appliance is based at Darlington.

V270 JWP This is a Vauxhall Movano Community Fire Safety van operated by Durham & Darlington Fire & Rescue.

F66 LBW This ex-Buckinghamshire 1988 Leyland pumping appliance is operated by a private company that provides fire cover during specialist events. Note that this appliance has a dayglo orange paint scheme, as opposed to the traditional red.

Firefighters continue damping down after a house fire. The roof was blown off these flats by a gas explosion. Notice the officer in the checked bib who is in charge of the breathing apparatus board.

A 2002 Mercedes Bronco Skylift appliance from NYF&RS.



The front view of the same appliance. It is pictured here on the run at York’s fire station. It is running on trade plates (398 BT) registered to NYF&RS, and will probably be ’52’ registered. During August and September 2002 it has been moving around fire stations to train fire fighters on this new appliance. This very photograph appeared in Turnout magazine.

This was the oldest fully operational appliance used by the Tyne and Wear Fire Brigade in 2002. Alpha 07 is the mobile incident command unit that is used to co-ordinate a large fire. The appliance dates back to 1980. Here it is with two fire cars that are used by senior officers. It was dealing with a large scrap yard fire.



The size of this vehicle can clearly be seen from this picture. Typically, it houses a large array of equipment, including maps, chemical information, emergency lighting and a sophisticated fire ground radio system. Also on this photograph is a Northumbria Police Ford Focus that has closed the road off.

Here we have an incident support unit photographed in York. This diesel powered van has a large carrying capacity for specialist equipment.

YG02 NBB A general use fire service Land Rover boasting its sponsor’s name on the side.

E789 LAJ is a1987 Dennis DS153 Emergency Tender.

B178 NHN is a Carmichael Bedford TKG Water Tender (with 13.5m ladder).

A Fire Brigade Land Rover Defender 110. Ghost: the frontal view.

Now here’s a Fireground Feeding Unit for hungry firefighters at long or major incidents. You can also see the white Fire Brigade Ford Transit (with blue lights) used to tow it.

R692 NCU is a Tyne and Wear appliance; a Dennis Sabre ML 322A12VGS8. It was based at Washington (Sierra) Station when this photograph was taken in 2000.

Here we have a Peugeot Fire car. These vehicles are a rare sight on UK roads, especially seeing one with the blue lights being used. Some of the older fire cars are white, as depicted by the old Peugeot in the background.

X529 JDC is another very similar vehicle, looking very new and shiny, but without blue lights fitted.

V848 EJR is a Vauxhall Corsa Fire Car, used by Northumberland Fire Brigade. It has a combined double blue light and siren on the roof.

X337 WUP is a Vauxhall Astra estate belonging to the Tyne and Wear Fire Brigade Arson task Force.

Here are two views of F843 JBB, a Volvo FL6.14 Emergency Tender. It was made in 1988 and was based at the South Shields (Kilo) station of T&WMFB.



The rear view.

G935 XFT is Xray-9-7, a driver training fire engine. It is a Volvo FL6.14 and was based at West Denton, Newcastle.

Below is a side view showing the a livery used by Tyne and Wear.

This is a Mercedes rescue unit based at Gloucester. Note the hydraulic arm behind the cab.

This is one of two aerial ladder platforms (ALP) in Gloucestershire. It’s built by Carmichael and is not much longer than an ordinary appliance due to the use on windy roads around the county. This unit is believed to be the ‘county’ unit, the other ALP being used only for Cheltenham.

Here is an old appliance now used for educational purposes.

This self-explanatory vehicle (with its partner, background) is a Mercedes diesel van, spotted outside of the York city station.

PAJ 576R is a turntable ladder from North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service. It is a HCB-Angus / Metz dating from 1976

Above is a Land Rover Fire vehicle at York City’s station. The vehicle has no markings and just the two rotating beacons on the roof. It will probably fulfill the same role as a fire car as shown and described above.

G429 KBO is a North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service aerial ladder. The red and white pole you can see is one of four stabalisers for when the ladders are fully erect.

A262 JAJ is Bedford TK1260 Prime Mover. The registration tells us it was first registered in 1983.

P875 KCN is a Northumberland Fire and Rescue Volvo FL6.14 from Carmichael. It was one of three identical engines based at Blyth in 1996.

GKK 241V is a preserved Dennis appliance.

Three aged fire engines, including a Dennis with the military registration 46 RN 53

P875 XCN is a Volvo FL6 Northumberland Fire and Rescue pump.

The crest of Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service.

R296 FPT The next picture shows two views of a Vauxhall Pick-up truck. This is one of many used by N’land for numerous purposes, including pulling equipment trailers and accessing remote areas of hilly Northumberland.

T97 BBR is a Ford Galaxy people carrier.

R763 HFT It is painted conspicuously for high-visibility.

Two self-explanatory supplementary equipment trailers.

Here is a very strange vehicle. Towed by horses or men, this gladiator trailer would have been used hundreds of years ago. So why is it in immaculate condition? And why has it got blue lights and siren fitted? It is used for charity events by Northumberland firefighters.

P246 DNL is Vauxhall Astra Van multi-purpose fire car.

Three identical Vauxhall Corsa diesel fire cars, including R548 AWP

This is a special operational support unit (OSU) Mercedes-Benz 310D.

A Long-wheel-base Ford Transit recovery fire vehicle. It was used by Cleveland Fire Brigad.

A Vauxhall pick-up (as above) getting hooked up to a support trailer.

The checker markings on the trailer above indicate that it is an accident command control unit.

The following is a vehicle that falls into the ‘ambulance’ and ‘fire’ categories: a fire victim support unit. Victims of house fires can use this converted camper van for shelter, to make a cup of tea and even to sleep in, if their house is badly damaged by fire. The British Red Cross can also council victims.

Now we have a Northumberland Community Fire Safety vehicle. Registration L566 KKS, it is an Iveco Daily 49.12, used for fire education.

LRG 556X is parked next to an old Ford appliance. Both vehicles date from the early 1980’s.

A Dennis appliance owned privately. Everything is still in full working order, including the extendable ladders, shown here at about 1/3rd height.

T196 ASE is a Scania P94D-220 tender from Aberdeen, call sign 781. The unit was based in Dyce on the outskirts of Aberdeen when the photograph was taken.

N389 RCN is November-zero-four, a Tyne and Wear emergency tender. Notice the radio control at the rear of the vehicle.



The rear of the tender.

A Bronto Skylift. You’ll notice the red and white patterning on the wheels and county badge on the door. The hand to the right is picking up the fire engine to show you the cab horizontal. You can see the dry patch where it was sitting. If you look closely you can also see one of the supporting feet which can level the vehicle on any slope!

A Mercedes van used by Tyne and Wear fire brigade for general transportation. It is not used for fire fighting. Vehicles of this type have a call sign starting ‘X’.

This is an old Carmichael engine, registered in 1984. It was a training vehicle, but had a new lease of life as a front line appliance. The reason for this is that the manufacturer of the modern appliance was being sued, and while this was happening they cannot use their vehicles.

N873 XPY is a fire car from North Yorkshire; a Peugeot 306 XLD. Note that it has no markings, but a magnetic blue flashing light has been attached, giving it the same rights as any other blue-light vehicle. This may well be used by a commanding officer on route to oversee a major incident.

This is a fire demonstration trailer. Used at community events, it is the pro-active role of educating people about fire prevention.

A line-up of York’s appliances in the late 1990’s.

This is a (model) Volvo fire appliance.

An old Dennis MPT 740P and an ERF engine. Both have seen active service, but have now been sold to enthusiasts who restore them and enter them for shows.

Another older turntable ladder, which was replaced by the Bronto Skylift.

This is the rear of Victor Zero Five P183 CNL, Tyne and Wear Fire Brigade’s Operational Support Unit. It is actually a detachable fork lift truck, which can be used for moving heavy objects and dangerous containers.

Below is every firefighter’s idea of heaven, the mobile refreshments trailer. It can be towed to any major incident where firefighters will be working long hours.

A309 FRA is a Freight Rover Fire Engine used privately by Rolls Royce. The Freight Rover was a demonstrator offered to Rolls-Royce by its manufacturers to fill a stop-gap requirement to replace a Carmichael Land Rover FT5 which had been seriously damaged in an RTA. It was not a satisfactory purchase, and was not up to the job required of it. Within weeks of use, the exhaust pipe from the pump set fire to the rear of the appliance!

A regular Scania turntable ladder.

Tyne and Wear’s Victor Zero Five, with it’s tarpaulin sides and fork lift truck on the back.

This is a detailed view of the inside of Tango Zero Six, Tyne and Wear’s Salvage Tender. Basically these vehicles carry a whole manner of equipment for almost every possible scenario. Included are such items as a chainsaw and inflatable cushions to lift heavy objects.

P276 CPY is a Toyota fire car, used for restricted access areas on the North York Moors. It was photogrpahed at Ripon Fire Station.

Here we have a Bronto Skylift. The engine can level itself on the steepest of slopes, and the cradle can carry firefighters around corners and up many stories. This vehicle has a life expectancy of 15 years, then it can be recycled to make new fire engines.

E475 KVN is a regular Volvo engine which is used solely for training drivers

M654 ECU is a Volvo flatbed truck used Northumberland Fire and Rescue. It can be used for transporting debris from fires or crashes.

D830 EVN A Bedford flat bed truck which is used for driver training.

This is Victor Zero Three, a Dennis Turntable Ladder from Gateshead.

An electric miniturised fire engine, not in service.

Foxtrot Zero Nine, Tyne and Wear Fire Brigade’s rescue boat Called ‘Tinea’ It is based at the Byker station.