A fire engine is a road vehicle 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. Some fire engines have specialized functions, such as wildfire suppression and aircraft rescue and firefighting, and may also carry equipment for technical rescue.
Boulton & Watt was an early British engineering and manufacturing firm in the business of designing and making marine and stationary steam engines. Founded in the English West Midlands around Birmingham in 1775 as a partnership between the English manufacturer Matthew Boulton and the Scottish engineer James Watt, the firm had a major role in the Industrial Revolution and grew to be a major producer of steam engines in the 19th century.
Sulzer Ltd. is a Swiss industrial engineering and manufacturing firm, founded by Salomon Sulzer-Bernet in 1775 and established as Sulzer Brothers Ltd. in 1834 in Winterthur, Switzerland. Today it is a publicly traded company with international subsidiaries. The company's shares are listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange.
Warsaw Fire Guard was a fire fighting unit in the city of Warsaw. Formed as Warsaw's first permanent fire service in 1834, it remained an independent and city-owned venture until its nationalization by the Nazi German authorities during the occupation of Poland following the Invasion of Poland of 1939.
Captain Sir Eyre Massey Shaw KCB was the first Chief Officer of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade, and the Superintendent of its predecessor, the London Fire Engine Establishment, from 1861 to 1891. He introduced modern firefighting methods to the Brigade, and increased the number of stations.
Gwynnes Limited was a City of London England engineering business, iron founders and pump makers founded in 1849 to capitalise on the centrifugal pump invented by James Gwynne (1804–1850). In 1856 his eldest son, J E A Gwynne, of Essex Street Wharves on the south side of The Strand was awarded a patent for the manufacture of carbon or charcoal powder. Their Strand site became part of the Victoria Embankment built between 1865 and 1867 and Gwynne profited from judicious investment in the reclaimed land. Their Crisp Road, Hammersmith Ironworks and works at Church Wharf, Chiswick, London, were established in 1867 to specialise in the manufacture of these centrifugal pumps and pumping engines This machinery was for use in practically all purposes where large or small quantities of liquid were required to be lifted and dealt with for low or high heads. A limited liability company was formed in May 1897 to own the business.
London Museum of Water & Steam is an independent museum founded in 1975 as the Kew Bridge Steam Museum. It was rebranded in early 2014 following a major investment project.
The history of organized firefighting began in ancient Rome while under the rule of Augustus. Prior to that, Ctesibius, a Greek citizen of Alexandria, developed the first fire pump in the third century BC, which was later improved upon in a design by Hero of Alexandria in the first century BC.
Kent Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service for the administrative county of Kent and the unitary authority area of Medway, covering a geographical area south of London, to the coast and including major shipping routes via the Thames and Medway rivers. The total coastline covered is 225 km ; it has 55 fire stations, and four district fire safety offices. The FRS provides emergency cover to a population of nearly 2 million.
Merryweather & Sons of Clapham, later Greenwich, London, were builders of steam fire engines and steam tram engines.
Pyronaut is a specialised form of fireboat known as a fire-float. It was built in 1934 by Charles Hill & Sons Ltd., Albion Dock Bristol, Yard No. 208. Registered number 333833. She is owned by Bristol Museums and based at M Shed in Bristol's Floating Harbour.
Steam pumper fire engines were used roughly from 1840 to 1920 to pump water on city fires.
John Grantham (1809–1874) was an English engineer, born in Croydon Surrey, who was involved in marine, railway and tramway engineering. He was the second son of another John Grantham. After leaving school, John (junior) worked with his father surveying routes for projected railway lines in England.
The Worthington Corporation was a diversified American manufacturer that had its roots in Worthington and Baker, a steam pump manufacturer founded in 1845. In 1967 it merged with Studebaker and Wagner Electric to form Studebaker-Worthington. This company was in turn acquired by McGraw-Edison in 1979.
The Belfast Fire Brigade came into existence in 1800, and until 1861 was managed jointly with the local police service. It then provided a dedicated firefighting service to the people of the city of Belfast until its amalgamation with the Northern Ireland Fire Authority on 1 October 1973, when it became the Fire Authority for Northern Ireland, today the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service.
A firefighting apparatus describes any vehicle that has been customized for use during firefighting operations. These vehicles are highly customized depending on their needs and the duty they will be performing. These duties can include firefighting and emergency medical services.
The Guernsey Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service which deals with a broad range of incidents on Guernsey, including fires, road traffic accidents, assisting property owner after storm damage or flooding and incidents involving hazardous substances.
Paul Rapsey Hodge was an English-American inventor and mechanical engineer. He also worked as a writer of technical manuals in both the United States and England.
The electric fire engine is a fire engine with a water pump, used to distribute water to put out a fire, operated by an electric motor. Electric fire engines were first proposed in the 19th century to replace the steam pumpers used for firefighting. The electric motor was claimed to be simpler, cleaner, and faster in operation, would save money, and require less maintenance than the steam fire engine. Contemporary battery-operated models also exist.
The Penrith Museum of Fire is a firefighting museum that contains heritage-listed former operating and now stored for preservation fire service vehicles located at Museum Drive in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith in the City of Penrith local government area of New South Wales, Australia. The provenance of the firefighting vehicles date from 1841 to 1998. The fleet of vehicles was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 25 February 2013.
