Fire Engines Photos

Hi Stephen, the Turntable ladder was a METZ ladder. The ET in the back yard was a Jennings bodied Commer, registration 3663U. I did manage to photograph it in the back yard. The blue lights was a later addition. They were not in vogue when these machines were first built. Thanks for posting the photo.

Added by Ron Henderson on 09 August 2013.

Please does anyone have a photo of leeds Dennis F8 TUA605 the only normal F8 in LCFB

Added by Doug Kipling on 10 August 2013.

Thanks for the info Ron; did LCFB have a Magirus Turntable at all? Maybe my memory is just playing tricks.

I assume the large sirens were a later addition. They seem to have been quite common in large fire brigades in the North of England and in Scotland. (London Fire Brigade, which is the one which of course appears in films from the '60s, never did use these, just bells). We had quite a large fire near my Junior school one year and I can remember the sirens wailing as the engines arrived.

Can you post the photo of the ET?

Doug, I would also like to see a photo of the standard f8. Do you know where this vehicle was usually stationed?

Kind regards to all.

Added by Stephen on 10 August 2013.

Stephen as far as I know it spent is entire service at Gipton (eastern sub station as it was called at one time and there is a partial photo of it on page 139 of the book The Leeds Fire Brigade by Chris Smith Doug

Added by Doug Kipling on 11 August 2013.

Hi Stephen, the other Leeds TLs were an AEC Mercury/MERRYWEATHER and a war-time Leyland Beaver/Merryweather. No Magirus in your time. The larger Francis "Long Rolling" Sirens were later additions. Standby and I will post the ET.

Ron

Added by Ron Henderson on 11 August 2013.

It's been a long time since posting this photo. Does anyone have a picture of the Leeds Commer/Jennings ET 3663U?

Ed: I would try a posting on a Facebook Group called West Yorkshire fire pre 1974.

Added by Steve on 28 May 2022.

I sent this photo to Talking Pictures TV last year, (which they showed) commenting that all the old ‘50s and ‘60s British films I saw featured fire engines with bells never sirens. Exactly when did long rolling sirens start to be fitted by some U.K. brigades? The five unique Leeds Dennis F8s arrived in 1954 with just bells but as a youngster I remember in the late 1950s they had the Francis long rolling sirens fitted. And there’s a number of F7s introduced in 1949 featured on this site that have them fitted.

Added by Steve on 17 December 2023.

This photo very nicely illustrates the decidedly odd two door cab on these unique Leeds F8 pumps. For some reason crew access was from the rear, a design which seems to have offered no benefits and which was limited to this one brigade!

One aspect was that it resulted in the standard 200 gallon water tank being reduced to only 40 gallons.

Added by Rob Johnson on 18 December 2023.

A correction! These had two 40 gallon tanks either side of the center aisle which permitted crew members to reach the cab from the rear. Together they made an 80 gallon capacity, which met the JCDD requirement at the time for an urban pump.

Added by Rob Johnson on 18 December 2023.

I used to see these unique F8s frequently as a youngster. On one occasion an F8 went down our street, returning from a fire, and four firemen were sitting right at the back of the vehicle, two on each side of the pump. How on earth they all sqeezed on I don't know.

I wonder if they all made it safely back to the station.

Added by Steve on 18 December 2023.

Times have changed! Now it’s mandatory to wear a seatbelt in the cab, never mind riding in the open air.

But here in Chicago firefighters used to stand on the rear step of pumpers on the way to fires, even long after the city bought units with full crew cabs. This dangerous practice is now also a thing of the past.

But, despite safety cabs, safety belts and all the safety rules and regulations, I have read that more firefighters still are injured in road accidents these days than get hurt at fireground incidents.

Added by Rob Johnson on 20 December 2023.

Steve I can’t pin point an exact date but the exact same Francis mechanical sirens were being fitted on appliances imported out to ex-British colonies like Australia, NZ, HK, Malaya etc. from the early post war period (late 1940s) - in NZ’s case they were a complete replacement for bells. However, it was well within in the 50s when Francis (and Carter, who also made traffic sirens) started fitting their sirens locally. First Leicester City trialled Carters but rotary sirens became particularly common on engines in the Northern Counties and metropolitan areas. However these were being superseded by the two tone horn sirens by the 1960s since they were already becoming confusable with Air raid warning sirens. The last brigade to actively use rotary sirens were Lothian and Borders in Scotland in the 1990s

Added by Vander on 08 September 2025.

I used to like the the rolling sirens as when I was a fire engine mad kid only fire engines used them in my area Teesside so you could tell them apart from Police and ambulance. Did North Yorkshire use them ? As my part of the Teesside Brigade was North Yorkshire before reorganisation of counties.

Added by CraigW on 11 September 2025.

Please add your comments about this picture using the form below.

Comments

Your Name

Your email address - this will be shown on the page and will allow the system to notify you of further comments added to this picture.