Fire Engines Photos

Hi Jacques, think this is Southwark Fire Station where the training centre is based.

Added by Phil Reed on 01 February 2010.

Hi Phil,
Yes I think you are right, I remember there were a lot of ladders and escape ladders in the rear.
JP

Added by Jacques Peter on 02 February 2010.

I think that you are correct about being Southwark fire station, next door to training centre , the Dennis on the left wad one of a few narrow cab appliances that London purchased in the mid 80's - they could only ride a crew of 5 , some of the ba sets had to be carried in a locker as the cab was so small - the other thing was they was only on the run as a pump and couldn't carry a wheeled escape. We had one on the run for a time as a spare pump around 1979 at B26 Old Kent Road.

Added by Steve Mott on 03 January 2013.

So is that a "D" series Dennis with single headlights and narrow cab? Why was it needed? Was it because of the narrow doors on the appliance by at this station?

Added by Michael G on 04 January 2013.

This was essentially the same concept as the very popular Dennis F8, built in the 1950s. It was indeed selected by many fire brigades because of its narrow width and very good manuverability.

It came with either a Jaguar 4.2 litre petrol engine or a Perkins 364 CID six cylinder diesel. The pump was a 500 IGPM Dennis No 2 and it could be supplied with a 400 gallon tank.

Middlesborough, for example, standardized on these Ds for everything except their TL, and at least one of them carried a 45 foot alloy ladder instead of an escape. The fact that the cab could only accommodate five was not a serious problem, as very few stations were able to allocate a six man crew to any of their pumps.

Added by Rob Johnson on 04 January 2013.

Rob, I'm familiar with Dennis "D" series, I was more interested in why LFB had so few, and why one was needed here? I guess 5 riders were more comfortable than 6, but i'm sure the ESFB ones used to turn out with 6 at times. They certainly carried 4 BA sets in the rear.


Added by Michael G on 05 January 2013.

Until the Kings Cross tube station fire, which led to the demise of a Station Officer, the OIC's BA set was frequently carried in the rear cab compartment. It later became SOP for the OIC to be able to don a set fitted in to his seat backrest.

Many retained stations are still able to run with six on a pump. But most full-time stations can only accomplish this level of staffing if nobody is on leave, which is unusual.

London was always focussed on a high level of standardization, and I would suggest they only ordered these smaller D series for assignment to the few individual stations which had grounds which posed access problems for the standard dual-purpose pumps of that era. Their pumps were less powerful than the 900 GPM norm, they did not carry escape ladders, and they had a bit less locker space, so there were tradeoffs.

Added by Rob Johnson on 05 January 2013.

There where three of these:-
VAN 489M, 1975 at B30 Brixton (P489D)
XYP 490N, 1975 at H32 Norbury (P490D)
XYP 491B, 1975 at A23 Euston. (P491D)
by 1976 allocated to B/H/A Division in that order
1977 allocated to Reserve Fleet

Added by M.West on 07 January 2013.

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