Fire Engines Photos

Here’s another street cleaner for Craig!

Added by Rob Johnson on 24 October 2021.

In previous life of Highway Maintenance used to run some sweepers, often problems as trucks are not really designed for trundling along at 5mph for days on end ! Makes me smile to think of a sweeper speeding along on blues and twos!

Added by CraigW on 27 October 2021.

These beauties are actually called Saugtankwagen or more accurately "sucking tank wagons", as their primary role is aspirational rather than actually only sweeping. They are designed to vacuum up oil and liquid chemical spills, and the sweeping equipment is mainly to direct the mess towards the suctions which are - as seen here - on the rear of the vehicle. I imagine they move slowly on scene, and indeed sometimes remain stationary, in cases where the mess has ended up in a drain or has pooled. See: "gully and cesspit emptier".

It is all part of the German fire services' responsibility for environmental safety and hazardous materials containment, control and disposal, which they do take very seriously.

In this context they are major users of compressed air foam, as their research has demonstrated that it is actually net net environmentally friendly - despite what some UK authorities seem to think.

As it extinguishes fires more quickly it uses around 50% to 75% less water, reduces air pollution from smoke, minimizes water damage, and reduces potentially toxic runoff.

Added by Rob Johnson on 28 October 2021.

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