Emergency vehicles play a very important part in our lives. Thousands of lives are saved every year by these vehicles and among emergency vehicles, the most important (arguably) are fire fighting vehicles. Whatever the mishap, fire fighting vehicles are the first to arrive on the scene.
Whether it is dousing fires in cars, buildings, airports, factories or godowns, rescuing people from collapsed buildings, chopping fallen trees to free roads, plane crashes, rescuing people drowning in the sea or even freeing birds hanging from trees (courtesy kite line), fire fighters are pressed into action.
Let us have a look at some of the vehicles used by our fire fighting department.
Water Tender:
The most common of the fire fighting vehicles, this vehicle is used to transport water from a water source to a fire scene. They are used in situations such as fire and mob control and can seat a driver + 6 people.
Water tenders are typically equipped with water tanks, water monitor, high capacity pump, water hose reels and lockers. They can be fitted with accessories like warning light bars, spot lights, search lights, PA systems and hooters.
Images:
Brijbasi,
Hi-Tech Foam Tender:
Foam Tenders are used for extinguishing fires caused by flammable liquids and prevent liquid spills from igniting. They carry flouro protein foam liquid and foam making equipment. They are useful for controlling fires in restricted access areas, such as basements, ship holds etc.
Foam tenders are equipped with a foam tank, a foam monitor, foam system, foam pump (manual / automatic) and lockers.
Images:
Hi-Tech,
UMC,
Brijbasi DCP Tender:
Dry Chemical Powder (DCP) Tenders are mostly used in electrical department to control fires without using water or foam. These are used to extinguish electrical fires and situations where the use of water can have a negative impact.
DCP tenders are equipped with DCP Vessels, expellant gas, DCP monitor, hose reels with trigger pistols and lockers.
Images:
UMC,
Brijbasi
One can get a combination of a water and foam tender or a foam and DCP tender.
Water Bowser:
Water Bowsers are used to move large quantities of water for fighting fires to different locations. They supply water to different fire fighting vehicles or act as a static emergency water supply. They are extremely useful while fighting large fires.
The tank of the water bowser can be filled from any hydrant or other water supply, or open water using the onboard pump. The vehicle also comes with a demountable pump, which allows it to be used for quick attack purposes. The truck is equipped with a high-pressure water monitor and hydraulic / pneumatic / manual controls and lockers.
Images:
Hi-Tech,
Brijbasi Foam Bowser / Nurser:
A Foam Bowser works just like a Water Bowser. It replenishes foam to front line fire tenders.
Images:
UMC,
Brijbasi Emergency Rescue Tender:
The Emergency Rescue Tender is a two-seater fire fighter that carries a wide range of heavy rescue equipment to rescue people from fires in roads, rails, airplane accidents etc. It comes with a crane, has a winch and carries rescue equipment which includes airbags, still saw, windscreen cutters, generators, breathing equipment, water and flood rescue equipment and lighting equipment.
The tender also has hydraulic rescue equipment, lifting bags, jumping cushions, lockers and pull-out drawers with self-locking system.
Images:
Hi-Tech Hazmat Apparatus:
A hazardous material (hazmat) vehicle is used by emergency services to respond to calls involving potentially hazardous materials. A hazmat truck is customized to suit the needs of the agency responsible for the apparatus, which may be a rescue squad, fire department, emergency medical services, law enforcement agency, or military.
A hazmat vehicle comes equipped with a pneumatic light mast, flood lights, electric or hydraulic winch, pull trays for storage and lockers. For the fire department, it is equipped with fire and rescue equipment.
Images:
111 Emergency Hydraulic Platform:
These are essentially ladder trucks with platforms for fire fighting. They come in various models with working heights of 19 – 70 meters. These vehicles can be equipped with generators, breathing equipment, hydraulic rescue equipment, escape chute, thermal imager, video camera with recorder, stretcher, carrier and more.
Images:
Liftmak Crash Fire Tender:
This vehicle is designed for use at aerodromes and airports in aircraft accidents. It can accelerate fast compared to other fire tenders and is able to negotiate rough terrain outside the runway and airport area. It can carry large capacities of water and foam and is fitted with powerful high-capacity pumps and water / foam cannons.
In order to avoid wasting time, the dash to the crash spot must not only be as fast, but also as short as possible during which obstacles like fences and hedges are driven over. The Crash Fire Tender should also be able to cross difficult grounds at a very high speed.
Images:
UMC,
Brijbasi
Rosenbauer of Austria specialises in making such vehicles. Here's a video of the Panther 6x6, which is among their popular models.
Yes,
we have some of these in India too:
Information sourced from
NewAge,
Hi-Tech,
Brijbasi,
UMC and others.