Fire Engines Photos

Good pic,they certainly look like firefighters in this gear,dont think it will be too long before the fire service and the ambulance service will come under the one service,possibly like FDNY.

Added by Tommy Swindle on 23 May 2009.

I hope it doesn't! With all due respect Tommy, I joined the fire & rescue service to be a firefighter not a paramedic!!!

Added by Peter Bromley on 24 February 2010.

Nothing new there Tommy, a few brigades prior to 1974 had a combined service, Darlington,Southport and Wallesey to name but three

Added by Barrie Green on 24 February 2010.

Yes,know what you mean Peter,but surely they would be kept separate professions, although flying under the same banner.

Added by Tommy Swindle on 24 February 2010.

I didnt realise that combined fire/ambulance sevices did exist in this country in the past.cheers Barrie.

Added by Tommy Swindle on 24 February 2010.

Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) and Washington (DC) are two large US cities with combined Fire/EMS services. The ambulances are owned and operated by the fire service and stationed in the fire stations. I do not know the extent to which firefighters and EMTs/paramedics are the same people. Portland (Oregon) has a "Fire & Rescue" service, but the EMS part of "rescue" is contracted out to AMR, American Medical Response.

DC and NYC used to have EMS services that were separate from the fire depts, but in both cases these were pulled into the FDs, sometime in the last couple of decades.

Added by Michael Feldman on 24 February 2010.

Yep I was a member of Darlington. All the ambo services were operated by the local authority until 1974 when they were taken over by the health authority/NHS

Added by Barrie Green on 24 February 2010.

Bath city was another combined service.

Added by Bristol Bob on 24 February 2010.

Barrie, you're forgetting Caernarfonshire Fire and Ambulance Service.

Added by Andy Middleton on 03 June 2010.

Dublin /Ireland has a fire/ambulance service and all firefighter a trained to paramedic level some trained up to advance level. Works very well .Each firefighter works 4 shifts a month on the ambulance.

Added by Alan Thompson Paramedic on 03 April 2011.

Peter, if you get the chance to be a Paramedic as well as a Firefighter take it. In this day and age everyone is dispensable and whilst there are no guarantees any more over job security, the more skills you have, the less dispensable you make yourself !

Added by Keith Richardson on 03 April 2011.

Was Herts not a combined Fire and Ambulance Service they shared stations?

Added by Neal Glover on 03 April 2011.

Chicago - where I live now - has 99 EMS Engines and 78 ALS ambulances. Many medical calls are handled by an EMS Engine Company, as well as an Ambulance, because the Engine can often respond a few minutes more quickly. FDNY recently adopted a similar protocol in some areas of the city. NYC EMS was brought under FDNY management a few years ago, after an enquiry which revealed ludicrously long response times (45 minutes!), dirty, disappearing and broken-down equipment - and widespread staff absenteeism. Coincidentally, I grew up in Darlington and was very familiar with the combined service, including a trip to hospital in OHN 1, a Bedford ambulance dating from around 1952. But I remember the ambulance crews wore a special shoulder patch, so I think they were separate from the firemen. Many European and Japanese fire services also operate ambulances, as do a large number of US fire departments. One reason is that it makes more efficient use of manpower, because firefighters only spend about 15% of their time on fire calls. Many US cities actually require all fire department personnel to be qualified Emergency Medical Technicians. With fewer fires, more road accidents and an ageing population, the emphasis of lifesaving agencies is trending more towards medical than firefighting. Berlin recently cut its pumper fleet to eliminate dual-manning, so that its ambulances could always be fully-crewed. Preferring a different solution, Paris operates more than 100 multi-purpose combination light pumpers and ambulances, and various vehicles designed to fill both roles have also cropped up here in the US. It seems this is a trend which is likely to continue, although different cities in various countries are trying different solutions.


Added by Rob Johnson on 16 May 2012.

See picture 24220 for a Paris "premier secours" (first responder) vehicle as Rob describes above.

Added by Michael Feldman on 16 May 2012.

Rob.....Darlington was originally a fully integrated fire and ambulance service but later (1960s) had separate personnel eventually breaking away from fire brigade control in (as far as I remember) in 1972. We then got our own Chief Officer Bill McAdam who came from Durham County Ambulance Service. The last vehicle ordered by the fire brigade was a K reg which was in 1970



Added by Barrie Green on 16 May 2012.

See picture 28742 for a right-side view of the latest generation of BSPP Premier Secours trucks. The PS seems to be a really versatile vehicle, and is small enough to maneuver in Paris' narrow streets. picture 29493 shows an older-generation model. As an American, I'm fascinated by the extent to which BSPP and the apparatus companies design vehicles especially for Paris. I think these may be copied by other brigades, but Paris seems to set the pace. I also like the handy detachable roller hose carts on the back of most French (and German?) fire trucks.

Added by Michael Feldman on 17 May 2012.

I was in Monaco for the Grand Prix and checked out their fire service - over 140 full-time staff and 14 pieces of apparatus for a population of 31, 000! The reason I mention it is that their trucks are all clones of the BSPP. The French one-man hose carts you mention each carry 200 meters of 70 MM hose, with Stortz couplings, so they can be rolled out from the pumper for attack, hydrant supply or relay. Very useful in narrow streets and tight corners! Most German pumpers also have these, and it does free up a lot of locker space, as well as being a very fast way to deploy hose. Japanese departments also use a different design, which slides in to the rear of the pumper - theirs are mid-mount I have seen a lot of videos with American firefighters really struggling to lay out flaked attack lines (I even had to help out when my own home caught fire on Long Island) and I think the combination of hose carts and universal hose couplings is a winner.

Added by Rob Johnson on 18 May 2012.

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