Fire Engines Photos

Hi Chris:

When LFB was expanded to include many outer fire stations, including Croydon Fire Brigade, the service had a total of something like 28 aerials across Greater London.

Now they have thirteen!

According to press reports, the initial response to the disastrous Grenfell Tower fire did not even include one.

The first one to arrive came more than a half hour after the alarm!

With 75 firefighters for every 100, 000 residents, London has about the average number of firefighters in the UK. But this is less than 40% of the number in Chicago or New York, half the number in Berlin and only 65% of the staffing level of Paris.

It seems the UK is heading towards Third World levels of fire protection...

Added by Rob Johnson on 23 August 2017.

13 aerials in the city the size of London! FDNY assigns 2 on the first alarm and if an all hands (working fire) assigns a third as RIT.

Added by Richard Sees on 11 October 2020.

London - and British cities in general - operate far fewer aerials than comparable cities in other European countries as well, not only when compared to US towns and cities.

The US comparison is skewed because there are no "truck companies" in Europe. Forcible entry, search and rescue, ventilation and other "truck" roles are all carried out by pump crews, aided sometimes by rescue squad members.

But I stand by my comments as far as the UK is concerned. Numbers of fire stations, firefighting personnel, vehicles and equipment are all much lower than in most other developed countries, and have been steadily reduced by national and local government financial cutbacks for many years now...

Added by Rob Johnson on 13 October 2020.

When it was absorbed into London, Croydon - with close to 400,000 population - had two modern AEC Merryweather TTLs. Now it seems there is none….

Added by Rob Johnson on 21 March 2025.

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