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Fire Engine Photos
MacDonald Johnston I believe
Added by Matt Hayes on 30 August 2012.
Added by Matt Hayes on 30 August 2012.
What a fabulous photo, well done Matt, sorry can you explain the MacDonald Johnson a bit more for us, thanks, ,
Added by Pav on 30 August 2012.
Added by Pav on 30 August 2012.
MacDonald Johnson biuld street sweepers and made a few fire appliances also here and in Victoria.
Added by on 05 September 2012.
Added by on 05 September 2012.
Well they appear to have done a fine job of this one, I wonder what the guys think that operate them, ,
Added by Pav on 05 September 2012.
Added by Pav on 05 September 2012.
I am surprised that Aussie pumpers seem to carry very few and relatively short ground ladders. Do they know something the rest of us are missing?
Added by on 05 September 2012.
Added by on 05 September 2012.
Rob, deadly silence to your query, in the absence of any starters, I'll make an attempt, but would rather someone more experienced like a serving firie give you the Organisational viewpoint.
Back in my vintage the ladder carried by general purpose appliances both in New Zealand and Australia was the wooden 35 foot (10.7m) extension ladder, with the 'Ajax' being quite prominent. A shorter wooden ladder with one extension sometimes referred to as a 'ceiling ladder' was also carried and was quite frequently used at house fires and the like.
Both ladders were excellent to work with, the larger being put to use to gain entry atop shop-front verandahs, and first/second floor windows. The same ladder also effective in rescue efforts and naturally taking water aloft.
Most of these ladders would now have been replaced by metal ones.
The City appliances also carried hook ladders for scaling from window to window on tall buildings or where you could not position the conventional ladders.
The 50 foot (15.2m) wheeled escape was used to access higher buildings, but I never did see one used in anger, apart from the training ground, but that's another story! They're all long gone now.
In Western Australia now days, the City and suburban pumpers all carry the "5 to 9" metal extension ladder atop the trucks. The 5m (16'4") when stowed and the 9m (29'6") when extended. The ladders are held in position with a locking pin and removed manually from the rear of the truck. No fancy hydraulic booms to muck around with and fall over and very effective.
They also carry a shorter metal folding ladder that stows away comfortably in one of the side lockers and is used to access ceilings/roofs, etc.
They are the only ladders carried.
Rob to answer your question, I am uncertain as to why taller ladders like the UK or USA are not used in Western Australia. I can only imagine there has never been a call for it. We do not have the densely populated attached houses like Europe but having said that, multi story apartment dwellings are rapidly increasing as more people move to inner-city living.
To that point, yesterday in Bankstown, Sydney (New South Wales)there was a high-rise apartment fire on the 5th floor of a nine-story building.
Two young female students were trapped inside and made it to the outside window ledge, but unable to stand any longer on the melting metal frame, plunged to the first-floor landing below. One was instantly killed and the other in critical condition with terrible burns and injuries.
If you Google 'Bankstown Apartment Fire' there is some fairly harrowing scenes, ,
I don't know if the Brigade could have rescued them had they carried taller ladders on their trucks? I'm not in a position to comment, they may have jumped prior to the arrival of the Emergency Services.
I hope that assists, thanks.
Added by Pav on 07 September 2012.
Back in my vintage the ladder carried by general purpose appliances both in New Zealand and Australia was the wooden 35 foot (10.7m) extension ladder, with the 'Ajax' being quite prominent. A shorter wooden ladder with one extension sometimes referred to as a 'ceiling ladder' was also carried and was quite frequently used at house fires and the like.
Both ladders were excellent to work with, the larger being put to use to gain entry atop shop-front verandahs, and first/second floor windows. The same ladder also effective in rescue efforts and naturally taking water aloft.
Most of these ladders would now have been replaced by metal ones.
The City appliances also carried hook ladders for scaling from window to window on tall buildings or where you could not position the conventional ladders.
The 50 foot (15.2m) wheeled escape was used to access higher buildings, but I never did see one used in anger, apart from the training ground, but that's another story! They're all long gone now.
In Western Australia now days, the City and suburban pumpers all carry the "5 to 9" metal extension ladder atop the trucks. The 5m (16'4") when stowed and the 9m (29'6") when extended. The ladders are held in position with a locking pin and removed manually from the rear of the truck. No fancy hydraulic booms to muck around with and fall over and very effective.
They also carry a shorter metal folding ladder that stows away comfortably in one of the side lockers and is used to access ceilings/roofs, etc.
They are the only ladders carried.
Rob to answer your question, I am uncertain as to why taller ladders like the UK or USA are not used in Western Australia. I can only imagine there has never been a call for it. We do not have the densely populated attached houses like Europe but having said that, multi story apartment dwellings are rapidly increasing as more people move to inner-city living.
To that point, yesterday in Bankstown, Sydney (New South Wales)there was a high-rise apartment fire on the 5th floor of a nine-story building.
Two young female students were trapped inside and made it to the outside window ledge, but unable to stand any longer on the melting metal frame, plunged to the first-floor landing below. One was instantly killed and the other in critical condition with terrible burns and injuries.
If you Google 'Bankstown Apartment Fire' there is some fairly harrowing scenes, ,
I don't know if the Brigade could have rescued them had they carried taller ladders on their trucks? I'm not in a position to comment, they may have jumped prior to the arrival of the Emergency Services.
I hope that assists, thanks.
Added by Pav on 07 September 2012.
Pav:
Thanks for some very interesting insights. It seems that your ladder equipment used to mirror what was once the standard in the UK, but now UK pumpers tend to have a roof loaded up with numerous and quite varied ladders all the way up to the 13.5 M extension, as do many European brigades. Paris even has 15 M ground ladders on some pumpers.
The old 50' (15 M) wheeled escape was used a lot by my local brigade (Darlington) because it quick to deploy, and it was so stable and safe to work on. When I was a student in Germany, I once visited the CFO of the Heidelberg city brigade, who had been to a few UK brigades - and he told me he wished he was allowed to buy them!
Perhaps you have a higher ratio of aerial appliances than other countries, although here in the US the ratio is usually 1 for every 2 or 3 engines, and ladder trucks carry a statutory minimum of 163' of assorted ground ladders as well as the aerial itself.
I know some European brigades, like Berlin and Brussels, have reduced their pumper fleets and added aerials, because so much new construction is outdistancing the usefulness of ground ladders, which rarely extend beyond 15 meters.
Given that the number one responsibility of fire services is to save lives, the focus is now increasingly on rescue first, extinguishment second, and some of the old thinking about ground ladders seems to be becoming obsolete.
Added by Rob Johnson on 07 September 2012.
Thanks for some very interesting insights. It seems that your ladder equipment used to mirror what was once the standard in the UK, but now UK pumpers tend to have a roof loaded up with numerous and quite varied ladders all the way up to the 13.5 M extension, as do many European brigades. Paris even has 15 M ground ladders on some pumpers.
The old 50' (15 M) wheeled escape was used a lot by my local brigade (Darlington) because it quick to deploy, and it was so stable and safe to work on. When I was a student in Germany, I once visited the CFO of the Heidelberg city brigade, who had been to a few UK brigades - and he told me he wished he was allowed to buy them!
Perhaps you have a higher ratio of aerial appliances than other countries, although here in the US the ratio is usually 1 for every 2 or 3 engines, and ladder trucks carry a statutory minimum of 163' of assorted ground ladders as well as the aerial itself.
I know some European brigades, like Berlin and Brussels, have reduced their pumper fleets and added aerials, because so much new construction is outdistancing the usefulness of ground ladders, which rarely extend beyond 15 meters.
Given that the number one responsibility of fire services is to save lives, the focus is now increasingly on rescue first, extinguishment second, and some of the old thinking about ground ladders seems to be becoming obsolete.
Added by Rob Johnson on 07 September 2012.
Scania
Added by Mark Corfield on 30 August 2012.