Fire Engines Photos

Latest French brush truck, featuring a front mounted remote controlled monitor. These make one man pump and role firefighting arguably safer, as the driver can more easily switch from looking at where he or she is driving to looking at the area where the monitor jet is reaching. Other notable features are the beefy crash bar and extensive roll cage, as well as the self protection nozzles contained in the cage structure. The characteristic short four door cab very popular in France incorporates two side facing rear seats, to accommodate a total of four crew.

Although this has a 3000 liter tank, lighter and more compact versions carry either 1000 or 2000 liters. It is also common to see heavier 4X4 units which have 4000 or even 6000 - with some 7000 tankers on Unimog 6X6 chassis.

These are often operated in teams of three or four, backed up by a tanker on 6X6 or 8X4 chassis with a 12000 to 13000 liter tank.

To cope with extensive forest and brush fire hazards, Departmental French fire services outside Paris and Marseilles operate a fleet of nearly 4, 300 brush trucks and tankers, along with another 43 with BMPM and hundreds of additional units operated by forestry agencies.

Added by Rob Johnson on 02 November 2022.

With the impact of global warming becoming so evident in many Northern European countries this past year, it seems that these (or similar) dedicated brush pumpers may start appearing in much greater numbers in Scandinavia, Poland, the UK and Benelux - with still more among German fire services too. Although trucks designed for structural firefighting can be pressed into service to tackle wildfires, they are often incapable of getting close enough to the fire front to be ideal. In Southern Europe and the warmer and drier parts of the USA fire services invariably operate both types from most or all of their stations.

Added by Rob Johnson on 12 December 2022.

Totally right Rob, I saw at the 2022 Fire-Rescue fair in Dresden a considerable amount of brush or pump/tank forest rigs displayed. New for Germany!

Added by PETER JACQUES on 13 December 2022.

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