Fire Engine Photos

No: 15905 Contributor: Pete Matten Year: 1993 Manufacturer: Dennis Country: United Kingdom

1956 Dennis F15/Dennis Water Tender.

This is a 1956 Dennis F15/Dennis Water Tender (reg-OED 888) and was one of only 78 Dennis F15s to
be built,the appliance was supplied to the County Borough of Warrington Fire Service and remained at
Warrington with the Cheshire Fire Brigade until finally going out of service back in 1977.
I photographed the appliance in 1993 at the Southampton Fire Engine and Vintage Vehicle Rally at the
Royal Victoria Country Park and following some restoration the appliance looked really spectacular.

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Picture added on 09 March 2009

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add commentComments:

This machine was converted into a Lighting Unit and had flood lights fitted along the top (where the side mounted hook ladder can be seen on this photo)

Added by Barrie Green on 09 March 2009.

Hi Pete,
Sorry if I sound pedantic, but surely there were 83 of the F15 version built ?

Added by Ian Moore on 09 March 2009.

Thanks Ian, you could well be correct on the total, I just mentioned
what was quoted in the programme from the 1993 Southampton Show.

Added by Pete Matten on 09 March 2009.

This machine used to get around as I saw it at the FSPG's 25th Anniversary Rally at Chasewater Park, Staffordshire also in 1993. The programme for that event said it was the only F15 with that particular body. I haven't seen or heard of it for a long time - perhaps it's one of many out there that are 'resting'.
Thanks for posting Pete.

Added by Chris Wood on 10 March 2009.

used to be owned by D west of Mortimer near Reading i saw it in 1997 at a local show

Added by Jason on 10 March 2009.

i served with Warrington borough fire service and rode on this machine many times, we had three front line machines a Dennis F12, Dennis F28 which were the first turnout. The Dennis F15 being the next machine on call.

Added by Colin Johnson on 18 April 2013.

OED888. You can see it as lighting unit on this page

www.fireflash-delta64.co.uk/warringtoncbarch.html

Added by Petros on 23 January 2023.

The officers spotlight was inside the windscreen rather than on the cowl, like other Dennis appliances of this era. I wonder if this was a customer request or just a general improvement on the older idea? BTW do we know how many F12s were built? It seems many more are preserved than the F15 version.

Ed: there were only about 80 F15s according to another comment. Surely there were hundreds of F12s?

Added by Rob Johnson on 23 January 2023.

A wise man told me that in the region of 340 F12s were built between 1951 and 1960.

Added by Chris Wood on 25 January 2023.

This is about three times as many as the 125 or so Merryweather dual purpose appliances sold, which were also introduced in 1950. These were based on a shortened AEC bus chassis and were diesel powered, which may have explained why these had limited appeal in those days before diesel fire engines.

Added by Rob Johnson on 25 January 2023.

I learned to drive with that particular engine, OED888 at Warrington. I believe that the windscreens were split with ones that could open at the top. They were damaged when someone reversed into it. It used to be the first machine to go to chimney and grass fires.

Added by John McAvoy on 15 August 2024.

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