Fire Engines Photos

I am not sure about the 9,000 litre tank. If the chassis is the maximum legal GVW of 18 tons on two axles, it seems the maximum tank capacity would be around 6,000 litres. Eyeballing the dimensions of the full width tank above the rear axle, it looks like it should most likely contain around 6,000 too.

Added by Rob Johnson on 04 August 2025.

A recent posting has an 8,000 litre tanker in service in Belgium, where 19 tons is permitted on two axles, but it has considerably less accommodations for equipment than this example. If 8,000 litres is the maximum on a 19 ton truck, it seems that the top number on an 18 toner would be something short of 7,000. With a full size pump and all of the other equipment, I do think the real capacity of this tanker must be around 6,000 litres.

Added by Rob Johnson on 18 August 2025.

I thought I was told these two were 9,000 litres but might have remembered that incorrectly - it was certainly an odd number number though.

Added by Jon Godden on 21 August 2025.

Jon. Thanks! I think maybe 7,000, but even that would be a bit of a stretch.

Added by Rob Johnson on 22 August 2025.

picture 45859 on this site depicts a 5,000 litre tank on a MAN chassis, and illustrates the size of the tank itself rather clearly. Looking at this, I start to think the Volvo is probably also a 5,000 litre tanker, if indeed its capacity is an odd number. In Germany, the standard for a tanker with only 4,000 litres is 16 tons GVW, so it seems unlikely an extra two tons of GVW would permit the builder to go even up to 6,000 - which also suggests the Volvo is most likely a 5,000 litre job.

Added by Rob Johnson on 24 August 2025.

The two new West Sussex Water carriers are featured on the rear cover of the new Fire Brigade Society magazine, Fire Cover, which also states they are 9,000 litres capacity on an 18 ton chassis.

Added by Jon Godden on 27 August 2025.

Then they are going to be illegal. And dangerous too, with overloaded axles, suspension, brakes and tyres.

Added by Rob Johnson on 28 August 2025.

Looking at Volvo’s spec sheets, the vehicles have a designed payload of between 12,500 and 12,750 kg. 9,000 litres of water weighs
9,000 kg, so as long as the bodywork and other equipment weighs no more than 3,500/3750 kg they will be legal.

Added by Graham Pritchett on 29 August 2025.

Graham: Theoretically you are quite right, and it may be just possible with alloy lightweight alloy construction and a poly composite tank that a 9,000 litre tank can be accommodated. But the pump alone weighs half a ton, and fire brigades are very often guilty of stuffing a lot more into their trucks’ lockers than the design weight is meant to cope with. Numerous examples can be found on this site, not least Land Rovers and Range Rover third axle conversions. Add to this that this rig will of course quite intentionally be operated with a full water tank, and it will inevitably be slow and cumbersome when it comes to handling. So responding to alarms at speed is a task which will call for exceptionally competent driving.

Here in America large tankers which are fully loaded with water between 7,000 and 12,000 litre ( on two or three axles) are reported to be responsible for more than 25% of responding fire truck single vehicle accidents, despite being turned out to only around 7% of fire calls. As British fire brigades start acquiring tankers like these, I do hope the brigades which buy them will train drivers to fully understand that driving these units “ on the bell” is an entirely different proposition than driving a regular 11 to 14 ton water tender - and especially challenging if the tank is only partially full!



Added by Rob Johnson on 01 September 2025.

Just to confirm the capacity of these is 9,000ltrs of water, the front locker on the opposite side is smaller and not full height, also the body is a 1 piece plastic body as used by 99% of uk services now. The total weight of the vehicle is just under 18ton (17900 from memory). All the drivers of these have carried out additional training to understand the vehicles handling characteristics and modern driver aids & safety features.

Added by Stuart Purves on 03 March 2026.

Looks like an interesting development.

Added by Rob Johnson on 06 March 2026.

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