Fire engine
A fire engine, fire truck, or fire ambulance is a vehicle, usually a specially-designed or modified truck, that functions as a firefighting apparatus. The primary purposes of a fire engine include transporting firefighters and water to an incident as well as carrying equipment for firefighting operations in a fire drill. Some fire engines have specialized functions, such as wildfire suppression and aircraft rescue and firefighting, and may also carry equipment for technical rescue.
Many fire engines are based on commercial vehicle chassis that is further upgraded and customized for firefighting requirements. They are generally considered emergency vehicles authorized to be equipped with emergency lights and sirens, as well as communication equipment such as two-way radios and mobile computer technology.
The terms fire engine and fire truck are often used interchangeably to a broad range of vehicles involved in firefighting; however, in some fire departments they refer to separate and specific types of vehicle.
Design and construction
The design and construction of fire engines focuses greatly on the use of both active and passive warnings. Passive visual warnings involve the use of high contrast patterns to increase the noticeability of the vehicle. These types of warnings are often seen on older vehicles and those in
In some regions, a fire engine may be used to transport first responder firefighters, paramedics or EMTs to medical emergencies due to their proximity to the incident.[4][5]
Warning devices
Fire engines are equipped with sirens, horns, and flashing lights. They are used to warn of vehicles that they pull over.
Types
Conventional fire engine
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An E-One engine with the Boston Fire Department
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An Ural engine with the Russian State Fire Service
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AHenan Fire Rescue Corps
The standard fire engine transports firefighters to the scene, carries equipment needed by the firefighters for most firefighting scenarios, and may provide a limited supply of water with which to fight the fire. The tools carried on the fire engine will vary greatly based on many factors including the size of the department and the usual situations the firefighters handle. For example, departments located near large bodies of water or rivers are likely to have some sort of
The exact layout of what is carried on an engine is decided by the needs of the department. For example, fire departments located in metropolitan areas will carry equipment to mitigate hazardous materials and effect technical rescues, while departments that operate in the wildland-urban interface will need the gear to deal with brush fires.
Some fire engines have a fixed
Aerial apparatus
An aerial apparatus is a fire truck mounted with an extendable boom that enables firefighters to reach high locations. They can provide a high vantage point for spraying water and creating ventilation, an access route for firefighters and an escape route for firefighters and people they have rescued. In North America, aerial apparatuses are used for fire suppression, whereas in Europe, they are used more for rescue.[8][9]
Turntable ladder
A turntable ladder (TL) is an aerial apparatus with a large ladder mounted on a pivot which resembles a
To increase its length and reach, the ladder is often
The pivot can be mounted at the rear of the chassis or in the middle, just behind the cab. The latter is sometimes called a "mid-ship" arrangement, and it allows a lower travel height for the truck.
While the traditional characteristic of a TL was a lack of water pumping or storage, many modern TLs have a water pumping function built in (and some have their own on-board supply reservoir). Some may have piping along the ladder to supply water to firefighters at the top of the ladder, and some of these may also have a
In the United States, turntable ladders with additional functions such as an onboard pump, a water tank, fire hose, aerial ladder and multiple ground ladders, are known as quad or quint engines, indicating the number of functions they perform.[10]
The highest TL in the world is the Magirus M68L, with a range of 68 meters (223.1 ft).[11]
Tiller truck
In the United States, a tiller truck, also known as a tractor-drawn aerial, tiller ladder, or hook-and-ladder truck, is a specialized turntable ladder mounted on a semi-trailer truck. Unlike a commercial semi, the trailer and tractor are permanently combined and special tools are required to separate them. It has two drivers, with separate steering wheels for front and rear wheels.[12]
One of the main features of the tiller-truck is its enhanced maneuverability.[13] The independent steering of the front and back wheels allow the tiller to make much sharper turns, which is particularly helpful on narrow streets and in apartment complexes with maze-like roads.[12] An additional feature of the tiller-truck is that its overall length, over 50 feet (15 m) for most models, allows for additional storage of tools and equipment.[13] The extreme length gives compartment capacities that range between 500 and 650 cubic feet (14 and 18 m3) in the trailer with an additional 40 and 60 cubic feet (1.1 and 1.7 m3) in the cab.[13]
Some departments elect to use tiller-quints, which are tiller trucks that have the added feature of being fitted with an on-board water tank.[13] These are particularly useful for smaller departments that do not have enough personnel to staff both an engine company and a truck company.[13]
Platform truck
A platform truck carries an
Some booms are capable of
Wildland fire engine
A
Fire departments that serve areas along the
Water tender
A water tender is a specialist fire appliance with the primary purpose of transporting large amounts of water to the fire area to make it available for extinguishing operations. These are especially useful in rural areas where fire hydrants are not readily available and natural water resources are insufficient or difficult to exploit.
Most tankers have an on-board pumping system. This pump is often not of sufficient power to fight fires (as it is designed to be attached to a fire engine), but is more often used to draw water into the tender from hydrants or other water sources. Many tankers are equipped with fast-drain valves on the sides and back of the truck. This allows firefighters to empty thousands of gallons of water into a portable water tank in just a few seconds.
Most water tenders are designed to carry loads of 5,000–12,000 litres (1,100–2,600 imp gal).[19]
Airport crash tender
An
Other vehicles
Other vehicles that are used by fire departments but may not be directly involved in firefighting may include
- Fire car
- Fire investigation unit
- Fire police unit
- Hazardous materials apparatus
- Light and air unit
- Marine rescue unit
- Mobile communications vehicle
- Operational support unit
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Chevrolet Suburban command vehicles with the Seattle Fire Department
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A Scania hazardous materials vehicle with ACT Fire and Rescue
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A Dennis Dart command post used by the Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service
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A Marder infantry fighting vehicle converted for use as a firefighting vehicle with the German Fire Services
History
In 1650, Hans Hautsch built a fire engine with a compressed air vessel. On each side 14 men worked a piston rod back and forth in a horizontal direction. The air vessel, a type of pressure tank, issued an even stream despite the backward motion of the piston. This was made possible by a rotating pipe mounted on the hose which allowed the jet to reach heights up to 20 m (65.6 ft). Caspar Schott observed Hautsch's fire engine in 1655 and wrote an account of it in his Magia Universalis.[23]
Colonial laws in America required each house to have a bucket of water on the front stoop in preparation for fires at night. These buckets were intended for use by the initial bucket brigade that would supply the water at fires. Philadelphia obtained a hand-pumped fire engine in 1719, years after Boston's 1654 model appeared there, made by Joseph Jenckes Sr., but before New York's two engines arrived from London.
By 1730, Richard Newsham, in London, had made successful fire engines. He also invented those first used in New York City in 1731 where the amount of manpower and skill necessary for firefighting prompted Benjamin Franklin to found an organized fire company in 1737. Thomas Lote built the first fire engine made in America in 1743. These earliest engines are called hand tubs because they are manually (hand) powered and the water was supplied by a bucket brigade dumping it into a tub (cistern) where the pump had a permanent intake pipe.
An important advancement around 1822 was the invention of an engine which could draft water from a water source. This rendered the bucket brigade obsolete. In 1822, a Philadelphia-based manufacturing company called Sellers and Pennock made a model called "The Hydraulion". It is said to be the first suction engine.[24] Some models had the hard, suction hose fixed to the intake and curled up over the apparatus known as a squirrel tail engine.
The earliest engines were small and were either carried by four men, or mounted on skids and dragged to a fire. As the engines grew larger they became horse-drawn and later self-propelled by steam engines.[25]
Until the mid-19th century, most fire engines were maneuvered by men, but the introduction of horse-drawn fire engines considerably improved the response time to incidents. The first self-propelled steam pumper fire engine was built in New York in 1841. Unfortunately for the manufacturers, some firefighters sabotaged the device and its use of the first engine was discontinued. However, the need and the utility of power equipment ensured the success of the steam pumper well into the twentieth century. Many cities and towns around the world bought the steam fire engines.
Motorised fire engines date back to January 1897, when the Prefect of Police in Paris applied for funds to purchase "a machine worked by petroleum for the traction of a fire-engine, ladders, and so forth and for the conveyance of the necessary staff of pompiers".[26] With great prescience the report states "If the experiment prove successful, as is anticipated, horses will eventually be entirely replaced by automobiles". This was, indeed, the case and motorised fire engines became commonplace by the early 20th century. By 1905, the idea of combining gas engine motor trucks into fire engines was attracting great attention; according to a Popular Mechanics article in that year,[27] such trucks were rapidly gaining popularity in England. That same year, the Knox Automobile Company of Springfield, Massachusetts, began selling what some[28] have described as the world's first modern fire engine. A year later, the city of Springfield, Illinois, had filled their fire department with Knox engines. Another early motorized fire engine was developed by Peter Pirsch and Sons of Kenosha, Wisconsin.[29]
For many years firefighters sat on the sides of the fire engines, or even stood on the rear of the vehicles, exposed to the elements. This arrangement was uncomfortable and dangerous (some firefighters were thrown to their deaths when their fire engines made sharp turns on the road), and today nearly all fire engines have fully enclosed seating areas for their crews.
Early pumpers
Early pumpers used cisterns as a source of water. Water was later put into wooden pipes under the streets and a "fire plug" was pulled out of the top of the pipe when a suction hose was to be inserted. Later systems incorporated pressurized fire hydrants, where the pressure was increased when a fire alarm was sounded. This was found to be harmful to the system and unreliable. Today's valved hydrant systems are kept under pressure at all times, although additional pressure may be added when needed. Pressurized hydrants eliminate much of the work in obtaining water for pumping through the engine and into the attack hoses. Many rural fire engines still rely upon cisterns or other sources for drafting water into the pumps. Steam pumper came in to use in the 1850s.
Early aerials
In the late 19th century, means of reaching tall structures were devised. At first, manually extendable ladders were used; as these grew in length (and weight), they were put onto two large wheels. When carried by fire engines these wheeled escape ladders had the wheels suspended behind the rear of the vehicle, making them a distinctive sight. Before long, turntable ladders—which were even longer, mechanically extendable, and installed directly onto fire trucks—made their appearances.
After the Second World War turntable ladders were supplemented by the aerial work platform (sometimes called "cherry picker"), a platform or bucket attached onto a mechanically bending arm (or "snorkel") installed onto a fire truck. While these could not reach the height of similar turntable ladders, the platforms could extend into previously unreachable "dead corners" of a burning building.
See also
- Containerized firefighting equipment
- Electric fire engine
- Fire appliances in the United Kingdom
- Glossary of firefighting terms
- Jan van der Heyden
- NFPA 1901
- Turntable ladder]
- List of fire stations
References
- ^ a b c Dallman, Chris. "What Type Of Fire Truck Lights Are Most Effective". 911 Signal USA. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
- ^ "Study Highlights Best Practices for Emergency Vehicle Visibility, Conspicuity". Fire Rescue 1. 15 September 2009. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
- ^ "Why lime-yellow fire trucks are safer than red". American Psychological Association. 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
- ^ Walter A, Edgar C, Rutledge M: First Responder Handbook: Fire Service Edition.
- ^ Alaspää et al.: Uusi ensihoidon käsikirja. Tammi 2004. (New Handbook on Emergency care) (in Finnish)
- ^ "What is a Fire Engine?". WiseGeek. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
- ^ Fire Engineering Magazine. 153 (4). Retrieved 19 March 2015.
- ^ "United States vs. Europe". Fire Apparatus. 7 June 2016. Archived from the original on 17 July 2019. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
- ^ "Fire Commentary: European Firefighting Operations". Fire Engineering. 12 June 2008. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
- ^ "Glossary". Fire Service Info. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
- ^ "Dosięgnąć nieba czyli M68L, najwyższa na świecie drabina hydrauliczna z windą ratowniczą!" [Reach the Sky or the M68L, the world's tallest hydraulic rescue ladder! "] (in Polish). remiza.com. Archived from the original on 16 November 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
- ^ a b Avsec, Robert (23 April 2013). "Pros and cons of tractor-drawn aerials". Fire Recruit. Archived from the original on 27 May 2016. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
- ^ a b c d e Hines, Charlie. "Fire Apparatus Utilized on Emergency Responses—Benefits of a Tiller". City of San Luis Obispo. Fire Chief. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
- ^ "Platform Features". Ferrara Fire. Archived from the original on 15 March 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
- ^ "Engine Types" (PDF). National Wildfire Coordinating Group. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 May 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
- ^ "Type 3 Engine" (PDF). Santa Barbara County Fire. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 December 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
- Fire Engineering Magazine. 165 (8). Retrieved 18 March 2015.
- ^ "Wildland Type I & Type II". Ferrara Fire. Archived from the original on 8 April 2015. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
- ^ "Tankbil". Sala Brand. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
- ^ Petrillo, Alan (29 August 2014). "Protecting Airports with New ARFF Designs and Equipment". Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment. 19 (9). Archived from the original on 28 December 2014. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
- ^ Vaccaro, Bob (31 July 2008). "Latest ARFF Apparatus Technology". FireRescue (August 2008). Archived from the original on 29 May 2014. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
- ^ Young, Charles Frederick T.. Fires, fire engines, and fire brigades: with a history of manual and steam fire engines, their construction, use, and management; remarks on fire-proof buildings ... statistics of the fire appliances in English towns; foreign fire systems; hints for the f. London: Lockwood & Co., 1866. 335. Print.]
- ^ W. Hornung: Die Entwicklung der Feuerlöschpumpe vom ausgehenden Mittelalter bis zum 18. Jahrhundert. Eine technikgeschichtliche Betrachtung (3. Part). (Archive from 13. January 2015) In: VFDB-Zeitschrift. Nr. 4, 1960, S. 133–141.
- ^ Rorer, Beverly, and Barbara Marinelli. Images of America: Upper Darby. Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia Pub., 2011. 112. Print.
- ^ Manchester Locomotive Works first self-propelled Amoskeag Steam Fire Engine. Sold to Boston Fire department after use at Great Boston Fire of 1872 Archived 19 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine www.bostonfiremuseum.com, accessed 6 August 2020
- ^ Notes of the Month, The Automotor and Horseless Vehicle Journal, January 1897, p143
- ^ Editorial staff (February 1905), "Motor fire engines popular in England", Popular Mechanics, 7 (2): 202.
- ^ "Books about Knox Automobile Company—Historical Photos & Images of Knox Automobile Company". Arcadia Publishing. Archived from the original on 1 October 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
- ^ The American Peoples Encyclopedia Yearbook: Events and Personalities. Spencer Press. 1955. p. 77.
External links
- Media related to Fire engines at Wikimedia Commons