Fire Engines Photos

Would i be correct in saying that this looks like an ex west mids appliance?

Added by Jamie Percival on 16 September 2008.

Viacheslov:

It is good to see that a classic British Fire Engine is still appreciated, and on the job; and looking good in the colours of it's Fire Department.

Our "Dennis" readers will be posting all the extra details, shortly.....BTW, I don't know if they have the Cyrillic alphabet down yet - so, what does the 2 Cyrillic words, on the orange "Racing Stripe", on the side, represent ?

You are showing us an impressive range of Fire Engine Builders, from different countries; and all in the Ukraine Fire Service.

For maintenance and servicing; the mechanics in your Fire Department work-shops must be Positive Genius', or else, going slightly out of their minds; in looking after such a range of trucks and their makers.

I can hardly wait for the next interesting Ukraine truck; so "keep 'em coming".

Regards, from Canada, Pat_R-B

Added by Pat Rivers-Bowerman on 16 September 2008.

Yes, I was thinking the same as Jamie - it certainly has an ex-West Midlands Mountain Range bodywork look about it.
Would there be any chance of being able to get its chassis number please ? (Just insiude the door well on the right hand side).

Added by Ian Moore on 16 September 2008.

hi we have just sent 7 x dennis ss from west sussex out to the city of kurst in russia were there being used for front line service. It just shows you cant beat a british truck. Well done viacheslov, keep the pictures coming

Added by Calvin Fox on 16 September 2008.

That livery is great. Must be hard work keeping those white wall tyres so bright, not sure I have seen many of those on modern machine. Credit to you for looking after the appliances so well.

Added by John D on 17 September 2008.

I wonder if this one went to the Ukraine under "Operation Florian" by any chance ?

Added by Ian Moore on 17 September 2008.

Ian also the black stripe on the front behind DENNIS is another common thing WMFS use which also made me wonder....On another note it must take some cleaning as the dirt will show up quite well! all in all an amazing looking old appliance that is still in frontline use today!

Added by Jamie Percival on 17 September 2008.

if any one is intrested in seeing the west sussex trucks in use in kursk check out the kursk website www.fsfor.org/ and you can see the ss"s working along side all the russian stuff they love having auto hosereels out there as there trucks dont carry them they have to run a length out and charge it before any water

Added by Calvin Fox on 17 September 2008.

Calvin: Re the seven that you quote as going to Russia from West Sussex, I have E612 JBP, G263 VBP, H879 BOT & H881 BOT shown as having gone. Could you confirm the other three please ?

Added by Ian Moore on 18 September 2008.

Another three, the 2nd batch of appliances left for Kursk in Russia in March of 2008, giving at the moment a total of seven. They are as follows:-
Taken out in December 2005.Dennis SS137/Boughton WrL's:-H878 BOT...H879 BOT.
H880 BOT and H881 BOT.
Sent out in March 2008.These were 1x1988 Dennis SS137/Carmichael and 2x1990 Dennis SS137/Boughton WrL's:-E612 JBP...G263 VBP and last G264 VBP.
Ian, 3 donated East Sussex appliances are in storage at this time at Shoreham Airport and could be the next to go?, will keep you informed.

Added by Pete Matten on 18 September 2008.

Ian: You're bang-on.

"Operation Florian" www.operationflorian.com - Registered Charity - started 1995 - gets surplus-to-requirements Fire & Ambulance equipments out to places that have real needs for it.
They got Fire Engines to Chernobyl and The Ukraine, as above.

Well worth looking up - to see classic Fire Engines, still giving front-line service.

Regards, from Canada, Pat_R-B

Added by Pat Rivers-Bowerman on 18 September 2008.

Calvin and Ian: "Fire Safety Friends of Russia" - www.fsfor.org - Registered Charity .

The 7 Dennis fire-trucks are listed and photo'd; and described on their voyage to Kursk, Central Russia, about 300 miles south of Moscow.

Firstly, by sea, to St Petersburg ["Leningrad", in WW-2] on the Baltic Sea; then the road-trip of their lives, some 760 miles to Kursk. This city is in the eastern neighbour of The Ukraine - so, this depicted Dennis should not feel too lonely.

BTW "Kursk" will ring a bell - July 1943 - Hitler's War - Russian Front - site of greatest tank battle of all time - some 6, 000 tanks on both sides.

Obviously, you can't beat a Dennis (;-)

Regards, from Canada, Pat_R-B

Added by Pat Rivers-Bowerman on 18 September 2008.

yes its amazing, from australasia to africa and northern and eastern europe to south america, dennis are in great demand after they have had a hard working life here, and what are we doing to rreplace them ? we buy lorry chassis from abroad and body them to look like fire engines, when will we ever learn!

Added by Big Al on 25 October 2008.

The main problem is that when spare parts were needed, especially in remote corners of the World, it was often much easier and less expensive to lay hands on Mercedes, MAN, Scania or Volvo parts than for Dennis, who often sourced components from other suppliers and actually made very few items of their own.

Now, of course, it is even more difficult than before, as the Dennis fire engine business is no longer functioning.

Added by Rob Johnson on 11 December 2013.

Yes and no as Dennis only really made the chassis and the cab , the rest also being propriety components , cab parts are generally not a big demand part and chassis rarely go wrong so a secondhand Dennis should last for a very long time , witness Ireland who still have 35 year old ss Dennis on the run!

Added by J Rennie on 19 January 2014.

You can basically run any fire truck for as many years as you like, just as long as you have enough reserve units to use while you are waiting to track down spares and service parts - and assuming you don't mind paying through the nose for them if and when you can find them.

But the fact remains that this is always easier if two conditions still remain true:

1- If the truck is still in production.
2- If the truck was manufactured in large numbers.

This is incidentally why used expensive limited volume custom fire trucks - with the exception of some special applications units - are actually very often a lot less costly at resale time than units built on volume truck chassis, because they are so much more difficult to keep on the run and often also more expensive to maintain...

Added by Rob Johnson on 19 March 2018.

I remember this Dennis from my childhood. It was assigned to the Special Emergency Rescue Squad of Uzhgorod. Their base was close to our school, so I had many opportunity to take a peek at this unique vehicle on the way.

Added by Balzolt007 on 28 February 2021.

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