NYV 719Y is a ‘Blazing Squad’ Dennis fire engine limousine. All of its blue lights have been covered up or replaced by amber or white lenses. It still carries its ‘London Fire Brigade’ plaque on the side from it’s previous role.
C922 CKJ This is another example of a ‘Blazing Squad’ ex-service fire engine. Notice that the ‘Fire & Rescue’ signage on the side of the appliance has been cleverly changed to ‘Hire & Rescue’. The vehicle has sinced changed owners and is now with Blue Watch Limos in Worksop, Nottinghamshire.
MKE 916W This is a third example of a limousine owned by the Blazing Squad.
Q809 HNR is a quirky home-made miniature fire engine. Road-legal, it was built and is run by Leistershire F&R as a fund raising vehicle. At events it takes children on journeys from its (inflatable) fire station!
The rear view, showing the passengers. It has fully functioning blue flashing lights, but in place of a siren it has a very loud speaker system which plays cheesy pop records to warn people of its presence!
Above we have a kid-size fire engine made from a milk float! Called ‘Little Dennis’, it takes a small number of children on a ride (off the roads) and returns to it’s inflatable ‘fire station’. The vehicle has working blue lights and siren, as well as a miniature water jet to surprise passers-by! It carries the fake registration ‘999 FIRE’. Little Dennis raises funds for the Fire Service Benevolent Fund and is based in Cleveland Brigade, run by Hartlepool Green Watch.
HX06 OFL This green Land Rover Defender is used by the Forestry Commission as a fire and rescue vehicle by rural safety officers. It is used in the Hampshire area and is run in conjunction with the local fire service. It is fitted with a double blue light bar on the roof and you can also see smaller blue flashing lights on the front of the vehicle.
A second view of the Defender, seen here towing a Hampshire FRS trailer. This vehicle is often used by Jim Green who is an animal rescue specialist.
W776 WPX This Land Rover Defender is used by the Forestry Commission for fire fighting duties. It is fitted with a single rotating blue beacon and FC livery.
This red trailer allows water and beaters to be transported to a remote fire. It is fitted with a blue flashing light.
Here the Forestry Commission are joined by Hampshire Fire & Rescue in tackling a moorland fire.
This Firefly hovercraft is used by Avon Fire and Rescue Service. based at Weston-super-Mare fire station. It is designed for use along the shoreline between Brean Down and Sand Bay.
The craft is piloted from the front whilst at the rear there are three dedicated seats fro additional crew members.
The rear view of the hovercraft showing the rudders which provide the directional control.
As well as being fitted with blue lights there are a number of search lights which can be used during night time rescues.
WX57 TKA This Nissan Navara is used to tow the hovercraft by trailer should it be required at an inland incident such as a flood.
The rear view showing the over sized trailer.
This pair of jet skis belong to Merseyside FRS and form part of their specialist Water Rescue team.
DK56 JXM is a Mercedes Benz Sprinter van that is used by Merseyside FRS as a water rescue unit. Some of the equipment it carries is shown, including a rigid inflatable boat. A trailer can be attached to tow two jet skis.
The Merseyside FRS Marine Rescue team in action on the River Mersey.
Nottinghamshire FRS operate this single-engined Rib for water rescues. It is fitted with one seat for the driver and no audible or visual warning equipment.
This is one of two hovercraft that Gloucestershire FRS operate. New in 2008, they are transported on trailers behind marked 4×4 fire cars. They were fully paid for by Severn Trent Water.
The rear view of the go-anywhere craft. The top speed of 45 mph will help to rescue people, particularly in the flood-prone areas.
This photograph shows a fire boat practicing the rescue of a team member. They are using a specially designed mat that is placed under the person in the water, and then rolled up to lift them into the boat.
Massey Shaw is a very special fire boat moored at London Fire Brigade’s Lambeth headquarters. It is the oldest original operating fire boat in Europe (notice the single blue rotating beacon on top of the cabin). It was built in 1935 and retired in 1971, but is still used for pumping displays today. It was more recently made famous by appearing on Channel 4’s ‘Salvage Squad’ programme in January 2004.
This is another of LFB’s boats, Firedart, at Lambeth.
The port and stern view of two identical LFB boats.
The NYF&R team prepare the fire boat for launch into the River Ouse at York.
A look here at the dashboard of the fire boat. It is fitted with a sophisticated moving mapping system and global positioning system, as well as radios and a mobile telephone. The boats position can be found to a few meters, so you’ll never be lost!
One of the NYF&R Landrovers has winched the boat and trailer into the river. If the situation allows, the Landrover can reverse the boat down the slipway as an alternative means of launching (shown below).
The fire crew can just about be seen here through the undergrowth. They are on a training exercise a couple of miles from York.
The smaller red fire boat practices towing the larger yellow boat. This could easily be a member of the public who’s engine has failed for some reason. Notice the yellow boat’s engines are out of the water.
Both boats can be seen here as the crew of the yellow boat unties the ropes after the successful tow.
The crew take a breather for a debrief. There is no chance of you missing this bright yellow boat easily!
A picture of the new fire boat on it’s trailer. It is towed by a red fire Landrover.
This is the new NYF&R fire boat. It was bought in November 01 and is based at the York station. The older orange RIB (below) is still being kept. Selected fire-fighters are trained on the boat, but still answer calls in the engines most of the time. This picture shows a ‘fly-past’ for me with the blue flashing lights on (top rear of boat).
North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue’s Fire Boat.
The Landrover slowly lowers the boat into the River Ouse for a training session.
Continuing to lower the boat.
The 4×4 Landrover easily copes with the 45 degree slope on wet cobbles.
HX58 AOE This is a Vectrix electric bike which is decked out in West Midlands Fire Service colours. It carries full fire brigade battenburg markings but is not fitted with blue flashing lights.
The rear view of the Vectrix, prior to it having the West Midlands banner added to the sides.
NK53 HYP This blue Yamaha is used by firefighters in Durham and Darlington to help educate youths on avoiding road accidents. The writing on the side reads “Firewatch – safer people, safer places”.
The rear shot, showing the second bike in the iron lung (NK53 JHV). The pair of bikes were previously operated by the police, but it was thought that the message about road safety would be more effective coming from fire fighters as they generally receive more respect from that age group.
This pair of mountain bikes are liveried-up with “fire” markings and are used by fire fighters at Colby Court, Newcastle.
This Triumph Motorbike is used by West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service. As Part of the national Bike Safe scheme, the service aims to use the bike to educate other motorcyclists about dangers of unsafe riding.
This side view of the Triumph showing its distinctive livery.
RO04 EWC This is a Honda ST1300 fire motorbike. It was the first successful operational response motorcycle in the UK. It was set up and ridden by Crew Manager Terry Clarry in Liverpool city centre from June 2004 to May 2009. It responded to automated fire alarms, the majority of which had been found to be false alarms in the past. The bike was also used as an engagement tool for youth programmes and was requested by the city council during large public events.
This mountain bike is a demonstrator by Halfords, showing the type of bike that can be supplied to fire brigades.
Northumberland Fire and Rescue operate this BMW motorbike in the North of England. It was introduced in 2007 and is used for promoting road safety, but also carried a defib and trauma kit for road accidents. It is riden by fire fighter David Stone.
This red Specialized mountain bike has four blue lights fitted to the front as well as a small siren. It has been decked out in bright yellow striping and even the saddle has a picture of flames on it. The bike is not operational – it was specially built for a police, fire and ambulance cycle race up the Brooklands hill-climb course in Surrey.
North Wales Fire Service operate this Yamaha FJR 1300 motorbike. The fire-bike was paid for by the Welsh Assembly and will primarily be used to attract bikers to the brigade’s stand at events. This will then give staff the chance to educate bikers on road safety.
This old fire bike was used in days-gone-by to test fire hydrants. It carries a connecting pipe and a short length of hose.
Some fire brigades use unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) or microdrones at major incidents. This is an example of a unmanned air vehicles (UAV) or microdrone. It has four rotors which run on electric motors. The battery lasts between 15 and 40 minutes depending on the wind, and only takes a few seconds to swap for a fresh one. When flying at 100 feet, the aircraft is silent and almost invisible.
The control desk for the UAV. A Laptop relays the picture to the controller. The radio control can also be seen on the table. It can be operated by one man when using special goggles that allow you to see what the camera is seeing, as well as where the UAV is. This low-cost alternative to a manned helicopter can allow firefighters an unparalleled overview of the fireground. The vehicles can be fitted with video, thermal or stills cameras. They are remote controlled and can automatically hover using an in-built GPS receiver.