Fire Engines Photos

Berliet was a major French manufacturer of trucks and supplied loads of fire appliances to fire services all over France including Paris between 1950 and 1980. At the time, the other manufacturers supplying French fire services were Citroen and Saviem, with barely any imported units in sight. This GAK 17 series was built from 1958 to 1968, had a 5 litre Hotchkiss petrol engine and a GVW of 9.3 tons. It and the GAK 20 series appeared with a 30 metre TTL as well as a pump and - as pictured here - a pump water tender. This version had a nine man cab, a 2000 LPM pump and a water tank which I remember was around 2200 litres capacity, while a two door cab version with a 3000 litre tank was also available. All versions were RWD with manual transmission, and had the standard one man hose carts hung on the rear - as can be (just) seen in this photo.

Some towns and cities - including Paris - also bought Berliet pumps with custom bodywork, eleven seat cabs but no water tanks or first aid hose reels during the 1960s and 1970s. In 1978 Berliet was absorbed into Renault, and became part of RVI, after which the brand name disappeared.

Added by Rob Johnson on 19 March 2021.

picture 43305 includes an example of the custom body pump appliance, as used in Paris and many other cities and large towns. This unit is being restored, but looks very good for being over fifty years old!

Added by Rob Johnson on 03 May 2022.

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