Fire Engines Photos

Well to be honest what we would expect these are rubbish. serves the brigade right for buying it. I feel sorry for the good tax payers who were left with no high rise cover when this was off the run.

Added by John Johnstone. on 08 June 2014.

They are all the same , we have three and they are never off the run , if the ariel pack is down they run it as a recue pump, if the pump is down they run it as an ariel, these are nonsense , we are now looking at dedicated ariels again !!

Added by Alan on 15 June 2014.

One of the saddest events in British Fire Service history. Tried and failed in the seventies, tried and failed again. I agree with Johns view, taxpayers money wasted.

Added by John Stott on 18 June 2014.

Hi Gentlemen!The Multistar Carp is not popular in Germany!Since 2000, then the first was shown at Rote Hahn, 105 has been built and sold!Only 13 of them in Germany!!The oldest is from 2005, the newest from 2011.

Anders F. Sweden.

Added by Anders Fallström on 21 October 2014.

I agree John....the problem is ...whilst it is now being realised this 'concept' ( as some prefer to call it) was never going to deliver a combined Ariel rescue pump that worked.... it did however achieve its primary aim ......that of cutting firefighter posts across the country under the guise of modernisation !

Added by Rick Loudon on 22 October 2014.

ive just spotted this appliance in Stockton fire stations drill yard been played with or (tested) looks like the (CARP) idea is coming to cleveland as this is the Second one ive seen

Added by Dave Todd on 30 March 2015.

I used to be in procurement though not related to fire fighting. One thing that I learned was to look at what the Germans actually purchase for their own use as opposed to what they are trying to sell to others. That their departments have only purchased 13 and non since 2011 should set off alarm bells though it clearly has not.

Added by TBone on 03 April 2015.

Now seems to be in service with Cleveland. See picture 22782.

Added by Peter Williams on 17 March 2016.

Load of CARP.

Added by Bill Edwards on 05 November 2018.

The CARP fire engines were a mistake, the problem seems to be the weight of the ALP making the vehicle top-heavy and unstable, I did wonder why they weren't refitted with a lightweight water tower.

Added by Andrew Jordan on 16 September 2024.

Andrew. The Magirus Multistar was designed to be a useful addition to German volunteer fire companies who had occasional need for a 30 meter ladder tower but could never raise the funds to acquire a dedicated aerial as an addition to their pumper fleet. As such, it was meant to replace an existing pumper but add all the capabilities of an aerial - but at much lower cost than buying two separate units. Apart from its notorious lack of reliability and awful stability problems, it also was an answer to a question nobody was asking.
Volunteers who needed an aerial simply bought a used one, or in many cases were actually luck enough to have a used one donated by a richer fire company or a full time city brigade. No surprise so few were ever sold in Germany. Even if it had been a reliable, safe and successful design (which it certainly was not!) there was little reason for anyone to buy it.

I guess the rationale was that, with over 23,000 volunteer fire companies in Germany (not a misprint!) it would only take a small percentage to buy them for it to be a commercial success. Some German volunteers do have a lot of money for appliances. One just bought a million Euro Rosenbauer electric pumper, but most are on pretty tight budgets.

Added by Rob Johnson on 21 September 2024.

This one was written off following an accident whilst responding to a fire call after being purchased by Cleveland Fire and Rescue.

Ed; accident was in 2019 and then it appeared for sale on Ebay see

www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/overturned-fire-engine-injured-three-19578563

Added by Roger Lewis on 01 August 2025.

more details are here picture 22782

Added by Petros on 03 August 2025.

It seems a lot of these Magirus Multistar trucks have been sold - either new or used - to fire services in the Middle East, Africa and South America. I can only imagine that these new customers are suffering similar issues with reliability and stability, both of which essentially killed this design in the UK and Germany.

Added by Rob Johnson on 04 August 2025.

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