Fire Engines Photos

Multiple alarm fires in Pennsylvania often produce a riot of different colored fire trucks, and some of these variegated paint jobs can be viewed at incidents captured on YouTube. The same situation arises in some other areas which are served by multiple small volunteer fire companies, including Long Island and some areas of New Jersey. As mentioned, it is mainly a matter of tradition, but many color schemes like this pale blue example do not shout “fire engine” like traditional red!

Added by Rob Johnson on 27 October 2023.

Part of the theory that it doesn’t really matter what color you paint your fire truck, is that all you have to do is festoon it with enough warning lights. This photo seems to exemplify this thinking, and is rather typical of a lot of American volunteer rigs, which often have twenty or more. Count them, not forgetting all the ones on the rear and right side too, which we can only guess at!

Ed: I was recently in Manheim Pa when two of their trucks passed me. I am a bit light sensitive. The problem for me is modern warning lights trigger migraine very rapidly! Not good for a fire engine enthusiast. And terrible when driving towards them.

Added by Rob Johnson on 01 November 2023.

Personally I do think the preoccupation with having huge numbers of different colored warning lights here by emergency services has reached the point where it has become counterproductive. If you pass an emergency scene at a structure fire after dark you may see as many as four pumpers, two aerials, two chiefs cars, two ambulances and up to four police vehicles. All of them will be displaying multiple multi colored strobe lights, as well as a lot of clear “scene lights”, to an extent which I find extremely distracting - and even disorienting for members of the public driving past - not to mention actually making it harder for the firefighters themselves to see what they need to be doing. This is why in the Netherlands, emergency vehicles are required to display only two orange lights once they are stationary at an incident scene.

Added by Rob Johnson on 02 November 2023.

Yes I often wonder why all the service vehicles in a closed street have to have every single warning light flashing.

Added by CraigW on 07 November 2023.

Editor, this photo was taken in September 2023 so I was in the area roughly the same time as you. We spent around 8 days touring numerous fire departments in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia. If you are a fire engine enthusiast, this is certainly the place to go!

Added by Andy Daley on 10 July 2024.

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