Fire Engines Photos

19 tonne GVW trucks on two axles are still permitted in Belgium, as long as they do not stray into EU countries where the limit is 18. This is why its possible to get 8,000 litres on to a two axle chassis like this unusual example.

Added by Rob Johnson on 13 August 2025.

Many years ago the Belgian government supplied large numbers of 8,000 liter tankres to fire services across the country, most of which were on Austrian Steyr or Renault 19 tonne chassis. These - like this much newer example - were intended to support regular pump water tenders at urban structure fires, rather than being adapted for off road brush fire fighting. The rationale at the time was apparently a concern that fire hydrant capacity in some urban areas was deemed inadequate for serious fire incidents. Several of these can be seen on this site in both the Belgian and Steyr sections.

Although some brigades have continued to buy these 8000 liter tankers, many switched to heavier tandem axle units with tanks up to 12, 000 liters when the time came to replace the older government issued rigs.

Big tandem axle tankers deigned principally to support urban pumpers are quite widespread in several countries where hydrant availability and/ or capacity can be a challenge. Examples include Finland, Denmark, Poland, Portugal and of course both the USA and Canada. They are also increasingly to be found in France, Germany and the UK.

Added by Rob Johnson on 14 August 2025.

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