Fire Engines Photos

Great photo, great appliance.

Added by Paul Warnock on 31 December 2007.

DHN999J was based at Bishop Auckalnd for many years as part of Durham Fire Brigade fleet. I had the pleasure of working on the old girl when it came into workshops in the 80`s rock solid tool and always coughed and belched itself to life. Cracking old girl.

Added by Dave on 28 May 2009.

Dave, she still is 'A cracking Old Girl'! A little smokey like many old Perkins V8's, but still very able to do the job that it was intended for. Maxim lives no more than a 1/4 mile from the M1 so still feels very much at home.

Added by Dr. B.A. Hutchinson on 28 May 2009.

By coincidence the 'wrecker' which replaced the Maxim is itself about to be replaced....the new Rescue Tender has just arrived for Durham and Darlington F&RS I remember the Maxim arriving new at Darlington

Added by Barrie Green on 28 May 2009.

This unique unit (thankfully beautifully preserved by Dr Barry) was bought by the Darlington CB fire brigade’s very foresighted CFO after the construction of the A1M by pass road, to respond to accidents on that road. This was despite the fact that the road was actually not within the town’s actual boundary. Before its acquisition the only rescue unit in the brigade’s fleet was an air compressor equipped Land Rover, which was of course a much more modest effort. Darlington fire brigade was often a bit of a pioneer. In 1932 they bought one of the first two enclosed fire pumpers in the UK. They were also one of the first to buy one of only two Leyland Firemaster TLs in 1960, a very early buyer of a Simon Snorkel and the first fire brigade to decide to have yellow helmets to improve firefighter visibility. They were also a very early adopter of compressed air breathing apparatus, with four sets in the cab of each of their pumping appliances in the early 1950s.

Added by Rob Johnson on 07 February 2026.

Perhaps I should add that the Firemaster Magirus ladder is also in Dr. Barry’s collection. It is on this site. Bought in 1960, it was one of only two examples. The other, supplied to Wolverhampton, was a TLP with a front mounted pump, but I do not believe it has survived.

Added by Rob Johnson on 08 February 2026.

I recent learned that while compressed air BA was introduced to fire services shortly after it was invented in the USA in 1945, some British brigades did not adopt CABA until the 1070s! One catalyst for this change was the Smithfield Market fire in 1958 when two London firefighters in the older rebreather sets died, but it seems the transition took several years, with some brigades still using the older sets a decade later….

Added by Rob Johnson on 10 February 2026.

Hi Rob, I’ve a Mandet (French) CABA set from 1940 ex Aberdeen Fire Brigade. More commonly known as Robert & McLean type 1 BA in MoF which seems like a copy made under licence?

Added by Peter McCombie on 11 February 2026.

Peter: Sorry I can’t help you with this. There is a reference to a Roberts CABA from WWII, but this in a user manual in a military museum, and it is in the context of a chemical warfare role rather than for fire services. My information is that Scott introduced their Air Pak CABA in 1945, in the USA, and it is claimed to have been the first such set designed for fire services. Regardless of which surfaced first, what I find amazing is that some brigades like Darlington had them around 1954 (which I assume were British made) while others still had the older design sixteen or more years later….

Added by Rob Johnson on 12 February 2026.

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