Fire Engines Photos

This impressive 60 meter Bronco exemplifies just how well equipped many German industrial fire brigades are. Several —especially in the chemical and refinery businesses - have interesting and very impressive specials like this one, which go far beyond anything operated by public fire services. It is therefore not surprising that factory fire brigades are required to respond to reinforce nearby public brigades when called for, and in practice they frequently do so when their specialized units are likely to be helpful in dealing with a major incident.

Added by Rob Johnson on 24 October 2023.

In Germany Industrial insurance fees varies according to the fire station size and equipment. Indeed, most of the industrial FD have an agreement with the nearby city or region to come as reinforcement.

Added by Jacques PETER on 25 October 2023.

Interesting aerial. Especially when you consider London Fire Brigade’s recent acquisition of three 64metre Turntable Ladders monsters. Obviously LFB wanted to mount them on a Mercedes chassis to compliment their all-Mercedes fleet, but apparently Mercedes told them they hadn’t got a suitable chassis, which is why ended up on a Scania P41D chassis. So my question is... is this pictured Mercedes chassis a new addition to Merc’s product line then? And if so, is it because of a result of the increase in demand for bigger aerials in response to a certain high-rise tragedy.... Or were Mercedes fibbing?

Added by Yelp Bullhorn on 25 October 2023.

The only thing I know it is a Mercedes Arocs, chassis build by Lentner (German Fire engine manufacturer)

Added by Jacques PETER on 25 October 2023.

It does not seem probable that Mercedes would turn down an order like this, as they have been producing four and five axle versions of the Actros for years, UNLESS they had a capacity problem and could not meet LFB’s requirements within their required time frame. Another possibility is of course that Scania had better pricing!


Added by Rob Johnson on 25 October 2023.

Mercedes have produced this chassis configuration for many years for the Arocs and Econic ranges. Many examples are to be found in the UK as tippers, mixers and refuse trucks. I suspect the London order went to Scania on price

Added by Graham Pritchett on 26 October 2023.

LFB’s other ladders and platforms were also recently replaced by Scanias, so pricing may well be the answer! They are increasingly turning up in German fire services too, which may indicate that value for money is a driver in Mercedes’ home market too?

Added by Rob Johnson on 26 October 2023.

I think it is a bit surprising that LFB picked a straight stick 64 metre ladder for their three "super high rise" aerials. It seems this 60 metre Skylift would have offered a more versatile and potentially more useful option, while achieving almost the same vertical reach.

But unfortunately neither would be particularly useful at any of the city's tallest high rise buildings. We can only hope these newer ones may have been designed and built properly. The other big problem with these monster aerials of both types is - not surprisingly - their sheer size. Not only are they relatively slow and hard to thread through traffic, their footprint with stabilizers extended is massive - and not all that many of London's high rise buildings afford much space for them to be positioned near enough to their structures. As other contributors have mentioned, their acquisition does seem to smell like a PR exercise, in the absence of willingness to develop and enforce meaningful fire codes in the city's high rise buildings.

Added by Rob Johnson on 10 May 2024.

Please add your comments about this picture using the form below.

Comments

Your Name

Your email address - this will be shown on the page and will allow the system to notify you of further comments added to this picture.