Fire services within the United Kingdom and Ireland require fleets of specialised firefighting vehicles to attend and deal with all manner of emergency situations. Domestic fire appliances, turning out to fires, incidents and rescues from a local fire station, are supported as required by high-reach aerial appliances, water tankers, specialised rescue teams and command units. The firefighting requirements of UK and Irish airports require larger and more specialist resources, carrying significantly greater volumes of firefighting media such as water and foam, which are on constant standby to deal with the most serious of airport emergencies.

The last twenty-five years have been a period of change. Specialist fire appliance manufacturers have come and gone, most fire fleets now carry the red and yellow ‘Battenburg’ colour scheme, and the quantity, allocation and specialist capabilities of fire appliances are constantly being reviewed to reflect the changing needs of the emergency calls that are received.

In this lavishly illustrated book, John Godwin looks at fire appliances in use over the last quarter of a century, referencing many of the UK and Ireland’s public fire and rescue services, as well as reviewing airport fire service fleets and vehicles used for industrial and private firefighting operations.