Fire Engines Photos

Peter, that's a beautiful old vehicle, and nice period uniforms on the firefighters. Great shot! Was this part of a parade?

Also, those must be full-dress parade uniforms, right? I can't imagine the men turning out in white to fight a fire!

Added by Mike Feldman on 13 June 2010.

Yes, it was part of the parade. Here is video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyJsx4KT-bc

Added by Peter on 04 January 2011.

This was one of the first Magirus steel turntable ladders. Once they were introduced, very few wooden ladders were still being built, and both Magirus and Metz were very busy in the 1930s replacing loads of older wood ones....

Added by Rob Johnson on 18 June 2020.

Compare this unit to the 1924 wooden Magirus TL in photo 41625.

Quite a lot of progress in only eight years!

Steel was much less likely to get damaged, did not char or burn, was lighter and required a lot less maintenance.

Once steel ladders were introduced, mechanical turntables, elevation screws and (on Metz and Geesink) chains, as well as cable drums for extension all remained pretty much unchanged until hydraulics appeared in the late 1950s.

Before long, 45 meter steel ladders appeared in the late 1930s, something which would never have been possible using wood!

Added by Rob Johnson on 18 June 2020.

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