Fire Engines Photos

Jason, such an incredible photo, fancy the turntable ladder being based in a rural setting like that or was the location close to a city or something, , , , ?

Added by Pavel - Western Australia on 11 January 2008.

The station is close to london and all routs across the south of the uk
it went to Brighton during the Grand hotel bombing in 1984 whilst on reserve

Added by Jason on 12 January 2008.

I have driven all three of those appliances and the austin A40 was driven by Station Officer Arthur Ilott - this was in 1966

Added by Ron on 04 February 2008.

well i have now the Turntable ladder and a reunion is planned at Chertsey with the TL at least if any other machines exist that were there i would love to know
also if you would like to have up to date photos of her then drop me an email at [email protected]
regards
jason
ps more of her are in the archive under dennis

Added by Jason on 06 February 2008.

so how long did you serve the fire service

Added by Nahyan on 09 April 2008.

does anybody have the station code for Chertsey fire station?
during this era or later?
any help would be great!

Added by Jason on 14 July 2008.

The code for Chertsey fire station is C14.
I was the leading fireman 1962-1967, red watch.
Frank Williams

Added by Frank Williams on 17 September 2008.

Jason, thanks for putting this b&w photo on the 'Site. It shows us so much of the equipment, when it was in service.

BTW, how did the officers go here - Station Officer, Sub-Officer, Leading Fireman ? Would Leading Fireman have charge of a truck ?

Regards, from Canada, Pat_R-B

Added by Pat Rivers-Bowerman on 18 September 2008.

thank you frank in the new year a tour of reigate, leatherhead, guildford, chertsey is on maybe we could hook up and you could meet the ol girl again?

Added by Jason Lester on 19 September 2008.

Hi, just to let you know the station code is now S33 for chertsey, it changed a few years ago from W33 ('W' was for west of county) from about 1996-2004. hope that was some help.

Added by Lee Duddy on 21 November 2008.

Hi Jason, Just to let you know that I was stationed at Chertsey from 1971-1974 and was a driver also. I remember very well driving 93 SPK a and as a TL operator gave her some hard times in the yard. I remember we also had at odd times as 'spares' 91 SPK, 94 SPK and 96 SPK. I know that Arthur Ilott passed away some time ago, God rest his soul!!! What a Guv'ner he was!!!!! I remember going to standby at Staines as driver one night duty, they had 1 AMX then, pump escape. I hadn't driven it before so went round the roads on familiarisation. Eraly hours the bells 'went down' and off to Heathrow. It was my first ever drive in an appliance 'in anger'. I was also the last one ever to drive it on a 'shout' as it came off the run the next morning at 0900hrs. A bit of useless information for you. Keep in touch, Andy

Added by Andy Chapman on 05 April 2009.

I have to admit to own this machine is fantastic as i get to hear of her service days, its your contributions that enable me to get an insight into the careers and experiences you had in the classic machines.
Allas 93 SPK has long since left this mortal coil and too has the Commer so it makes My TL 221VPB a special machine.
I would like it if you were to visit the old TL or come see her at Odiham this year.
Its not mint but its a preserved vehicle that could have joined 93 SPK!
thanks and if you would like a chat my email is [email protected] and i will give you my number thanks jason

Added by Jason on 05 April 2009.

Jason, if I had a brain I'd be dangerous. Got the wrong reg for the TL. Should obviously have read 221 VPB. I still really enjoyed putting her through her paces. Andy

Added by Andy Chapman on 06 April 2009.

well you are welcome to have another spin in her when you like tho 48 yrs have started to take their toll as the transfer box wont engage ladder drive ladder use is not available until winter 09 beautiful to drive though!


Added by Jason on 06 April 2009.

Andy, about Arthur Ilott, do you know if he was local to the area or was he from elsewhere? The Ilott surname is extremly rare and my family is from Hampshire so not far from Surrey.
Much appreciated


Added by David Ilott on 08 August 2010.

Wonderful photo Jason. 221 VPB was much more preferable to the Ford D HP they received after. Keep the pictures coming.

Added by Andrew Middleton on 08 August 2010.

Classic photograph.Built in Surrey, England, so why not have a complete line up of appliances built by Dennis Bros of Guildford in Surrey, England.

Added by Pete Matten on 08 December 2010.

I'm quite surprised Surrey never opted for the Sabre or Dagger.

Added by Andrew Middleton on 08 December 2010.

Pat:
In the 1960s in the UK, a station like this would normally have a station officer as watch commander, a sub officer as his number two, and a leading fireman, as well as seven to nine other firefighters on each of three watches.

The first due (in this case, the pump-escape) would usually be commanded by the sub officer, the second due (pump or water tender) by the station officer and the third due (turntable ladder) by the leading fireman. The ladder crew was usually only two or (in major cities) three.

If one of the junior officers was on leave, the remaining two would ride the first and second due units, leaving the ladder truck without a riding officer.

The ranks were the same in every brigade, but there was some slight variation in how these "riding officers" were assigned. The station officer rank roughly corresponded to a North American captain, and the sub officer to a lieutenant. Most brigades did not send a senior officer on a first alarm call - so no real equivalent to the operational Batallion Chief.

Added by Rob Johnson on 29 September 2012.

An aerial ladder unit was also dispatched from Chertsey Fire Station, so that the flames could be tackled from above.

Added by FontsDownloadFree on 19 August 2015.

I served at Chertsey 1970-74 before leaving for Wiltshire. Arthur left for Lancashire to retire in a town called Kirkham.

Added by Malcolm Clarke (Bill) on 03 February 2021.

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