Fire Engines Photos

Nicely illustrates the interior layout. This so-called "New World" design was certainly a lot safer than the traditional contemporary Braidwood bodywork, as it had to be pretty difficult to fall out of this appliance. On the other hand, the placement of the pump and ladder gantry did not make it too easy to get to or from the "seats". Real American pumpers of this era had front or mid mounted pumps and side hung ladders to solve these problems - but of course most required the crew to stand on the rear step.

No data are available, but this was probably no safer than sitting on a Braidwood hose box, as both meant you had to find something to hang on to!

Added by Rob Johnson on 26 January 2023.

Good job this is a British pump then.... this type of bodywork was fairly short lived as designs moved on fairly rapidly, where as the America designs didn't change that quickly at all, hanging kit on the outside and firefighter hanging on for dear life, continued way past the time that the British had moved to enclosed cabs and lockers.

Added by on 02 February 2023.

Even long after American pumpers had canopy and even four door enclosed crew cabs, a lot of firefighters actually preferred to "ride the step" because it was quicker to get the the flaked delivery and hydrant supply hoses in the hose bed into action. No comprehensive data are available, but I have seen things which tend to indicate that American firefighters are still more likely to be injured in road accidents than they are during actual firefighting - despite our fire engines having enormous bumpers, ultra strong safety cabs and seatbelts these days...

Added by Rob Johnson on 02 February 2023.

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