Fire Engines Photos

I don't prefer these types of Russian fire apparatus.

Added by Nutorious Silicon on 18 May 2008.

Nutorious, give it time, they'll grow on you, each and every one of them have a character of their own, look at how the boys have hand-painted the tyre walls, ,
And the beacons looking a little awkward instead of being mounted on plinths, , And for an old model like this, look how well they have polished and cared for her, they've even blackened the tyres. This is the work of a well tuned crew, I'd be happy for them to rock up at my place if it was on fire!

Added by Pavel on 20 May 2008.

My Grandfather was born Peter Slavitski, in Kiev in 1904. As a teen he came to the United States around 1918-1920. In America his family changed their name to Hart. I have lived my entire life in Michigan. I work for the fire department as a full time fire captain. I would some day love to visit my grandfather's birthplace. The fire trucks on this page are very special th their fire department members, and are cared for deeply.

Added by Arthur Hart on 03 December 2012.

Arthur, I agree, you only have to look on Youtube at Russian Fire Engines to get an understanding of how the truck above is still in use today handling the horrid conditions of the Russian winters, ,

Added by Pavel (of Siberian folk) on 04 December 2012.

Pavel, thanks for the YouTube info. I will look that up. I also found out the whitewall tires are actually painted. Why is that? Also, this truck is still in service for fire suppression? That is amazing. Glad to hear it is still providing protection to the community. Take care. Winter coming our way.

Added by Arthur Hart on 04 December 2012.

Fantastic, and these types are not always as old as they look. They are built to last, thanks for sharing that great photo

Added by Andrew Breeden on 08 December 2012.

Arthur, I like you hope one day to return to my father's birth town in Siberia. I imagine the firemen paint the tyres white to match the white on their trucks?

Added by Pavel on 08 December 2012.

Thanks for an explanation. All ingenious is simple.

Added by Gamesellru on 16 May 2021.

The idea behind the whitewalls is to make the trucks more distinctive. It was standard practice in France too for many years up to the 1960s, while in Finland the fire brigades had a similar effect by painting their trucks’ wheels in black and white quarters. I agree that Russian fire fighters do an impressive job, especially considering the winter weather and the fact that in many areas hydrants seem to be hard to reach!
In South America, many fire brigades instead fit full chrome wheel covers to their trucks, as they have not yet in many cases adopted the reflective stripes or tapes so popular in Europe.

Added by Rob Johnson on 18 May 2021.

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