Fire Engines Photos

Interesting appliance! Anybody have any idea what type of equipment that is carried on it?

Added by Dermot Duffy on 16 May 2011.

I believe its more of a salvage/damage contol tender rather than a firefighting unit

Added by Barrie Green on 16 May 2011.

I'm guessing it's just the basic gear; hose reel, small water tank, few hoses etc.

Added by David Jones on 17 May 2011.

Many thanks for the replies Barrie and David!

Added by Dermot Duffy on 17 May 2011.

I was stationed at Kensington Fire Station (LFB)during the late 90's and one of our popular callout's was Kensington Palace. On arrival we would be greeted by the sight of an old bedford van (as I recall) in the markings of the Royal Household Fire Service. Two (old) firefighters would step out of the van to assist us with locating the reason for the callout (they were always AFA's). I do remember their main role was salvage/damage control. If we did have a fire to contend with they would begin to remove or relocate priceless wares. I cannot recall if their role included firefighting. Since we were entering Crown property we had to seek permission before entering the building (often the Palace Officials would request only two firefighters to enter) whereas the Royal Fire team had the authority to enter at will (within reason I suspect). It did cross my head at the time how old their fire vehicle was and whether the Queen will purchase a new one, glad to see she has. Not sure why there are no blues & twos on the van though (the old van did not have any either).

Added by Sean Yeates on 18 May 2011.

Very interesting Sean.
Do you know if they were dedicated firefighters or did they have other roles in the households?

Added by David Jones on 18 May 2011.

Cannot recall if their role was dedicated, I do remember they were retired London Firefighters (LFB) and no matter the time of day (or night) they attended (doubt it was the same faces though). Just 'nice to know' information the Houses of Parliament have a dedicated crew of fire safety officers (again, as a rule, ex-LFB) who patrols and secure the premises from fire incidents, Harrods (Knightsbridge) also had (or have) a fire team, we once trained with them on one of their exercises. Windsor Castle at one time had a dedicated fire department, but due to cutbacks in the late 90's were disbanded, obviously the powers at be are sure of themselves another large fire is not going to happen in their lifetime (even Royal Berkshire Fire Service decided to downgrade their Fire Station in Windsor to one pump!). Happy days.

Added by Sean Yeates on 19 May 2011.

Hi Sean Fire crew was still going at Windsor 2002.

Added by Mark Corfield on 04 August 2020.

Think the Royal Household would have gone for a Vauxhall Vivaro !

Added by CraigW on 05 August 2020.

The castle fire was a 36 pump job, so whether the local station has one or two pumps is probably not much of an issue when it comes to tackling an incident on this scale...

What it boils down to is that huge ancient structures like palaces, castles, cathedrals and country estate houses are very difficult to adequately protect from major fire disasters in a cost-effective way.

This is just as true in other countries, which have recently experienced such disasters, including France, Portugal, Poland and Russia.

Added by Rob Johnson on 05 August 2020.

In reply to Rob Johnson from listening to comms on the Winsdor Castle fire they had over 40 pumps and 15 officers on scene as they made a call for make pumps 40.

Added by Michael Hill on 16 February 2023.

Thanks. As I recall, the 36 pump reference came from the brigade’s own press release. I don’t think it changes my conclusion all that much - that the level of coverage provided by the local fire station is pretty much immaterial when one of these enormous ancient structures catches on fire. Paris has 74 well equipped fire stations manned by very fit and well trained military personnel, and the BSPP were only just able to save the towers of Norte Dame with 600 firefighters in attendance.

Added by Rob Johnson on 17 February 2023.

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