Fire Engines Photos

Say you were injured when one of these jokes rolled over - either as a serving firefighter or a member of the public - you'd obviously be entitled to compensation, such is the current, regrettable culture of this country, but would the fact that fire service "managers" had put these ridiculous white elephants into service knowing full well they were not fit for purpose and inherently dangerous have any bearing on your claim? I wonder. Because, were it me injured, I'd have to put my distaste for our blame culture to one side and would sue the pants off the brigade responsible for unleashing these deathtraps on us. And I'd want some supercilious bean counter locked up too!

Added by Yelp Bullhorn on 16 January 2018.

20 mph=32 metric kmph!

Added by Anders Fallström on 29 May 2019.

Did it end up as SCRAP?

Ed: this one may have bitten the dust but the other similar CARPs have only just left service according to the latest edition of Fire Cover

Added by Bill Edwards on 18 December 2023.

I believe some had their pumps and/ or water tanks removed to bring them back down to the original chassis weight capacity, and incidentally to possibly bring the center of gravity lower - hopefully avoiding this type of very low speed rollover incident. This concept was limited to the UK, perhaps because authorities in most other places realized that building vehicles with pumps, tanks, booms, baskets, crew cabs and loads of equipment lockers really did “ go over the top” in every sense of the words.

We have some quite large quints here in the US, combining a 100 to 110 foot ladder tower, a 2000 USGPM pump, a 400 USG tank, hoses, several different size ground ladders, a six seat crew cab and some extrication gear. These do work well, but here we usually have much straighter and wider roads and and city streets, and - above all - hardly any roundabouts. So turning a long, heavy and quite high vehicle like this is less challenging in most situations. In addition, they are almost always second due after a pumper, so their path through an intersection has usually been cleared for them. In cases where maneuverability is a must, tiller aerials are still popular, and some now have a pump and water tank on the tractor, and these tractor-trailer combinations are in practice very maneuverable and very safe. FDNY is operates 11 for this reason.



Added by Rob Johnson on 19 December 2023.

To clarify, are there any CARPs actually still in service in the U.K. What replaced them, if anything?

Ed: there are several still in use according to Fire Cover mag No 240 though some may run as dedicated aerials with little other equipment and no water to reduce weight. Scottish FRS has some of the non Strathclyde original ones in service - for example SP09AHK and SP12BNE from Tayside. Bronto not Vema platforms.

Added by Steve on 19 December 2023.

Nice to see one in it’s natural state.

Added by Peter McCombie on 20 December 2023.

Retained station Saltburn's is still in use and busy seemingly covering the whole Cleveland Brigade area as an aerial.

Ed: that is a Magirus Multistar.

Added by CraigW on 20 December 2023.

Only Three vema ARP's are currently on the run in the West of Scotland as of end of 2023 there was several withdrawn and replaced by pumps. SP09AHK(Greenock) and SP12BNE (Oban) are on the run in the West as Heights only.

Added by Steve B on 20 December 2023.

West Yorkshire FRS had three or four of these things. Does anyone know if they are still in use?


Ed: W Yorkshire famously kept a Simonitor long after everybody else and even re chassised it onto a Volvo. Then they has Magirus Multistars.

Added by Steve on 21 December 2023.

Craig The idea of having this unit based at Saltburn and staffed by on call personnel (as I understand it) seems to suggest that Cleveland does not seem to consider it to be a first alarm responder - but only some kind of backup unit. The idea that it is metropolitan Cleveland’s only aerial is all the more alarming, if correct….

Added by Rob Johnson on 21 December 2023.

picture 39278 includes a bit of the history of the ill-fated Magirus Multistar.

Added by Rob Johnson on 22 December 2023.

Rob I think you have the wrong reference here?

ps they are not all ill fated as some remain in use.

Added by Petros on 22 December 2023.

Sorry! Should be picture 39728. Sure there are a few still in use, but often not in the multiple role they were originally designed for.

Added by Rob Johnson on 22 December 2023.

Rob I was hoping someone better informed could tell me why retained Saltburn's CARP attends fires throughout Cleveland. Stockton also had a CARP but they turned it over a few years ago and it was not replaced. The venerable 1988 Volvo HP was still in Middlesbrough station last time I passed but seems to see little use.

Added by CraigW on 23 December 2023.

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