Fire Engines Photos

Quite an unusual photo! I think at the time of this photo LFB had only six or perhaps eight hose layers.

These were not very often deployed, and it seems likely that there are very few photos of any of them in action! They carried 6,000 feet (1,800 meters) of 3.5" hose.

Added by Rob Johnson on 14 December 2020.

At the infamous 1974 Worsley Hotel fire, which was a 30 pump fire and resulted in seven fatalities, two HLLs were deployed to relay water from the Regents Canal - as the area's hydrant network was insufficient for the numbers of pumps required on the fireground.

The fatalities included six hotel residents and fireman Hamish Petit, who died in a partial structural collapse, which also seriously injured three of his fellow LFB firefighters.
Ed: the fire was the subject of a famous book by ITN newsreader Gordon Honeycombe, called Red Watch.

RIP Hamish.

Added by Rob Johnson on 16 December 2020.

Petros: I remember his book had an appendix, which included all the appliances operated by LFB at the time. Then there were 212 front line pumps and 28 TTLs. Now? 150 pumps and 13 aerials! The FRU fleet has been increased from 8 to 14, but the rest of this continuing trend to reduce appliances and staffing is concerning.

Even more alarming, the Brigade's future planning (as discussed on their website) includes a recommendation that most or all of around 50 two pump stations should be reduced to single pump manning at night - and a further suggestion that all of the aerials should be alternate manned by pump crew members...

Added by Rob Johnson on 17 December 2020.

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