Fire Engines Photos

A 12 ton GVW chassis should easily be able to carry a full 1800 litres if required, so I expect the smaller tank has been specified to create additional space for the variety of firefighting and rescue gear it carries. It is also worth mentioning that many fire services in several European countries have also reduced their new front line rescue pumpers' tank capacities in recent years - when these have been equipped with CAFS.

The reason is that a CAFS line used to attack a class A fire is usually deployed for less than half the time than an equivalent plain water line is in use, so a great majority fires are dealt with using far less tank water... Although some magic claims have been made about CAF, including the Schmitz "One Seven" publicity that the foam is seven times as effective as water, my review of systems in use in around ten countries suggest that extinguishing time in class A indoor structure fires is around one quarter to one half of the time needed using an equivalent water flow.

Added by Rob Johnson on 28 June 2021.

In Boston, MA, the prototype pumper with CAFS had an existing 2060 litre tank, and NEVER used hydrant water during its first year in operation, although it was always hooked up to a hydrant in accordance with the departmental Existing SOP!

Added by Rob Johnson on 29 June 2021.

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