Fire appliances in the United Kingdom

Fire appliances (also known as fire engines or fire tenders) used by the fire service in the United Kingdom fit into several distinct categories and perform a wide range of general and specialised roles.

Modern day fire appliances are technologically advanced machines compared to the steam-powered water-pumping ones of a hundred years ago. The modern appliance is capable of carrying a multitude of equipment and firefighting media (such as water and foam) to deal with different types of emergencies ranging from fires, rescues, vehicle extrication, floods, salvage, casualty and trauma care.

The design and size of a fire appliance depends very much upon the role it is expected to perform. In general, most fire and rescue services utilise a standardised range of vehicles and equipment. However, airport fire services tend to use much larger and heavier appliances than those typically deployed by public fire services.

Common UK fire appliance manufacturers and suppliers include Dennis, Scania, Volvo, HCB Angus, JDC, EmergencyOne and Carmichael. Most front line fire appliances in the UK are marked in high conspicuity red and yellow battenburg markings, and are fitted with blue lights and sirens. Many appliances have roller shutter doors revealing compartments housing various items of equipment.

Public fire and rescue services are those operated by fire and rescue authorities, and funded by council tax. Most fire appliances used by them are referred to as "domestic" type appliances to differentiate them from larger airport crash tenders. They are normally based on truck chassis and weigh over 12 tonnes, meaning they require an LGV licence to be driven. Some brigades use slightly smaller appliances based on GVW of 7.5 tonnes, which do not require an LGV licence. They are common in rural brigades where narrow lanes and rough terrain would be difficult for a larger fire engine to negotiate.

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