Fire Engines Photos

The above fire tanker is a ex military 1942 Chev short wheel base Blitz wagon, she was Hornsby Heights first bush fire tanker, she came into our service in the middle 1960s stayed with the above brigade until the middle 1970s she then went to an other local brigade until she was sold of to a farm in the Mudgee area, the Hornsby Heights started to search for her in 2000, she was located in 2001, completely pulled to pieces and pushed into an erosion ditch, we puchased her back from the farmer and brought her back to Hornsby in three truck loads, rebuilding started in August 2001, almost every nut and bolt on has been replaced, engine, diffs, gear box, transfer case have been rebuilt, all fire fighting equipment on her is original from when we had her, after more than ten years work, ( a labour of love by a group of dedicated people) she is now fully functional in all respects and is in great demand for all types of functions, the photo above was from the Royal Easter Show Sydney 2011, where she was part of two parades every day for seventeen days.
I hope that you enjoy her as much as we do

Added by Terry Donnelly on 04 January 2012.

Hi Terry, unfortunately my photo does not do her justice. Fancy having to buy her remains from the farmer after he cut her up and dumped her in the drain, he should have gladly donated her back to you!! Is the best example of a restoration I have ever seen! Well done thanks, ,

Added by Pav on 05 January 2012.

Hi Pav, thank you for taking and supplying the photo to the site, the purchase price was around $250 and two slabs of crown lager, she has become a wonderful publicity machine for the RFS, Hornsby Shire Council, and own brigade (Hornsby Heights Rural Fire Brigade) several members of the restoration team are foundation members of the above brigade, still non active members of the brigade.

Again many thanks.

Terry Donnelly


Added by Terry Donnelly on 08 January 2012.

At the end of World war 2 there were many thousands of these vehicles given to fire brigades through out Australia there may still be a few still used as private fire trucks on farms even today

Added by Jim shaw on 16 July 2013.

Jim - not only Australia. Many were left in Western Europe, converted to fire service use and - despite being RHD - used for many years in countries such as Belgium and the Netherlands, among others.

Added by Rob Johnson on 17 February 2018.

Is this fire truck for sale and if it is how much

Added by Raymond on 07 June 2019.

Hi all, many thanks for your interest and comments, they make the team very proud.

Regards to all
Terry Donnelly


Added by Terry Donnelly on 11 June 2019.

The Chev Blitz in this article has her own Face Book page, "Puff the Tragic Waggon", follow her.

Added by Terry Donnelly on 12 June 2019.

Good morning. I am a model maker and I have just seen the photo, I would like to know if it would be possible to have photos of the details of the Chevrolet. thank you!

Added by Alain Taou on 19 July 2023.

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