Fire-Fighting Vehicles In Preservation

While there are thousands of preserved commercial vehicles, there can be few that evoke such public excitement as fire-fighting vehicles. The sight of a vintage fire engine parading around the ring at a rally event can be a stirring one, with the crew (often fire-fighters themselves) in period uniforms with brass helmets gleaming and the bell clanging as the vehicle proceeds. Sometimes the crew may demonstrate a turntable ladder being extended to its full height or the hose reels being deployed, although modern Health & Safety rules mean that is unlikely that a demonstration of extinguishing a fire can take place. Fire brigades were established in the nineteenth century, just as mechanised road transport was beginning. Thus, their history can be told through the fire-fighting vehicles that have survived into preservation.