Fire Engines Photos

This is Rosenbauer's jazzy multi-stripe decor, now being used on their demonstrators. It is intended to compete with Ziegler's rather fanciful Z stripe treatment. Some German fire companies have adopted the Ziegler striping for their new units, but it remains to be seen if they will actually spend the extra cash to buy the Rosenbauer design.

Added by Rob Johnson on 15 December 2013.

Yuk! What a mess!

Added by John Stott on 16 December 2013.

Rob,

Rosenbauer used this deco at least since 2007 - so it's not really something new. I think most manufacturers spice up their demonstrators in one or the other.

Added by Martin Siegel on 16 December 2013.

There does seem to be a coming together of British and European appliance design.

Added by Neal Glover on 16 December 2013.

Neal - I think you are quite right, and there are probably four main reasons for this trend.

First, of course, is the strength of European chassis builders, especially Mercedes and Scania, and their ability to engineer chassis specially designed for fire service applications.

Second, bodybuilders need large scale production to be profitable enough to stay in business. Markets like Germany are huge, compared to Britain, and the past decade has also involved a major renewal of fleets in places like Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and many other former Soviet satellite countries. As a result, firms like Rosenbauer have much higher production volumes than any UK firms. Some European builders have also bought out manufacturers in other countries, or licensed their designs overseas.

Third, many European bodybuilders have pioneered new materials and designs to make their trucks safer, lighter, more practical, more user-friendly and more versatile, while we are still seeing some new appliances being placed into service in the UK with body designs which are 20 years old.

In this respect, I would cite thermoplastic tanks and body construction, automatic pumps and wireless remote pump controls, CAFS installations, powered ladder and suction hose racks, powered locker covers, automatic steps, sliding and folding storage systems, color-coded locker labels, interchangeable modular locker cages, locker, ground and perimeter lighting systems, powered reels with payout windows and pre-connected hose layouts.

Lastly, I believe that UK fire services are probably becoming more exposed to European best practices, not only because of the EU but also simply because communications are so much quicker and easier in this electronic age. This means that good ideas flow far faster from one place to another than ever before, so it is inevitable that fire services everywhere are finding more and more common solutions to the same challenges.

Added by Rob Johnson on 17 December 2013.

I was thinking continental becoming more British looking. In some ways this Rosenbauer has a look of the Miles/HCB bodies of the 60s. Some modern developments are very useful, some seem to only increase the cost of the machine and provide an excuse for the supply of replacement parts.

Added by Neal Glover on 17 December 2013.

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