Fire Engines Photos

These large tankers are also very commonplace in Poland, but their presence there is not so much because of a primary focus on wildfire risks, but more to compensate for the lack of fire hydrants and/or water system capacity in many smaller communities in rural areas of the country. Chassis are typically Mercedes, MAN, Scania or Tatra in addition to Renault. They are also becoming more popular in Germany, and some other countries, where they are often replacing two axle water tenders when their service life is over.

The bigger tanker is more expensive, but has the advantage that it holds around twice as many litres of water as the older, smaller vehicles. A similar trend has been evolving for decades in the US, where 10,000+ litre tandem axle tankers have been a feature of hundreds of small town and rural fire departments for many years. They usually carry a folding tank, so the entire contents can be dumped very quickly at the incident site for pumpers to draft from. The tanker can then leave for a water source to refill while the pumpers use its original load at the fire scene. So called “tanker task forces” from as many as five fire stations are often first due at structure fires where there are no nearby hydrants, providing a relay to keep one or more folding tanks at the incident site always replenished. This tactical approach using large folding tanks has also been adopted recently by some departmental fire services in France, as it increase the chances of being able to guarantee a consistent and uninterrupted water supply.

Added by Rob Johnson on 19 January 2025.

I recently saw a trio of tandem axle tankers at work at a pancake restaurant fire in the Netherlands. According to one firefighter, they hold no less than 18,000 litres, which seems a bit improbable considering that the maximum gross weight for a three axle truck in that country is 31.5 tons. In any case, they managed to supply enough water to completely protect another large restaurant which was cheek by jowl next to the one on fire, although that one was a total loss.

It did illustrate the perils of building large restaurants in areas without hydrants or nearby open water sources, and demonstrated just how useful big tankers can be at large fires when no other water source is to be found. Apparently the pancake restaurant which burned to the ground had also burned down fifteen years ago, so maybe someone will think about an effective built in fire protection system next time!

Added by Rob Johnson on 23 January 2025.

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