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London Fire Brigade Appliances

The London Fire Brigade operate a number of different appliance types. On this website, you will usually find appliances identified by their abbreviation, for example DPL. You can check in this article what these abbreviations mean, and more information about the vehicles. Some of this information is similar to vehicles used by other brigades, although there are also many differences.

 

ALP (AERIAL LADDER PLATFORM)

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ALPs are one of three types of aerial appliance operated by the LFB. The ALP works by lifting a large hydraulic boom up, which has a cage on the end. This cage can carry three firefighters, and water can be sprayed onto a fire from this, or the cage can be used to rescue people. The ALP also has a ladder on the side of its booms, but this is only used in the event of a hydraulics failure.

Vehicles used:
~ Volvo FL10 with Bronto booms
~ Mercedes-Benz Econic with Magirus booms

New Vehicles:
~ 8 x Mercedes-Benz Econic / Magirus on order, arriving summer 07

 

BCU (BRIGADE COMMAND UNIT)

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One of the most interesting vehicle types is London's BCU (Brigade Command Unit). This is a unique appliance, based at the London Fire Brigade headquarters in Lambeth. It is a large vehicle built by Spectra on a Volvo B10M coach chassis.
The BCU attends large fires, and acts as a command unit. It is in addition to the command unit pods based at each divisional HQ station. The vehicle carries computers, communications equipment and much more.

Vehicles used:
~ Volvo B10M with Spectra body

 

BWrC (BULK WATER CARRIER)

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Six of these DAF CF75 / Crossland Tankers bulk water carriers have been with the London Fire brigade since early 2005. Due to problems with their tilt tests the appliances have yet to enter service, but it is hoped they will enter service this year. They are formed of a 6x4 truck chassis with a large cylindrical tank, which carries a large amount of water for supplying water to appliances at incidents with little or no other water supplies.

Vehicles used:
~ DAF CF75 / Crossland Tankers

 

CSU (COMMAND SUPPORT UNIT)

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Nine of these vehicles are due to come on the run with the London Fire Brigade later this year. They are to replace the command unit pods and brigade command unit coach. The command support units are appliances where officers can control incidents, and have the latest computer and radio technology fitted to allow them to do this, including a large plasma screen for viewing footage of incidents. Eight vehicles will be placed at strategic locations designed so that a CSU can reach an incident within 20 minutes, with a ninth vehicle as a reserve.

Vehicles used:
~ Mercedes-Benz Atego 1224R / Spectra

 

DPL (DUAL PURPOSE LADDER)

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The DPL is the most common type of appliance in London. These are the standard pumps used for attending all incidents, and are known elsewhere as pumps or water tenders. A large water tank is fitted to the vehicles for firefighting, along with numerous hoses, rescue gear and other specialised equipment. All stations in London have at least one DPL with many having two. There are two types of DPL, a Pump Ladder and a Pump. A pump ladder carries a 13.5m ladder, whilst pumps have a 9m ladder. Stations with only one DPL will have a Pump Ladder carrying both a 13.5m and 9m ladder.
An order of 109 new Mercedes-Benz Ategos with Plastisol bodywork is currently being delivered to the brigade, which will eventually replace all of the older Volvo / Saxon appliances.

Vehicles used:
 ~ Volvo FL6.14 with Saxon Sanbec bodywork
 ~ Mercedes-Benz Atego with TVAC bodywork
~ Mercedes-Benz Atego with Papworth bodywork

New Vehicles:
~ 109 x Mercedes-Benz Atego / Plastistol (assembled by either TVAC or Papworth), currently in delivery

 

FBt (FIREBOAT)

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There are two fire boats owned by the brigade, named Fireflash and Firedart. Both are based at the brigade's river station in Lambeth, on the other side of the road from the main headquarters. The boats are used for a variety of incidents. These could be people drowning in the water, fires on boats or riverside property, crashed boats and more. The boats are equipped with ramps for easy access to other sea vehicles or onto land, and also have a number monitors for spraying water.

Vehicles used:
~ Alnmarintec rescue boat

 

FIV (FIRE INVESTIGATION VEHICLE)

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There are six fire investigation units based in London. These attend any incidents where the cause of the fire is thought to be suspicious. The FIUs are crewed by specially trained experts. The FIUs are often used to assist police in their investigations.
There are three stations with FIUs, one in each division. The vehicles are based at E38 New Cross, F44 East Ham and G26 Acton. Rather than using traditional callsigns such as "F441", the FIUs have callsigns starting with OK (Oscar Kilo), and then a number.
The entire fleet of Ford Transit FIUs was recently replaced with new VW Transporters vans.

Vehicles used:
~ Volkswagen Transporter / Papworth

 

FRU (FIRE RESCUE UNIT)

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Fire Rescues are large specialist fire engines used for performing various types of rescue, from dealing with road traffic accidents to hazardous materials and chemicals spillages, line rescue, water rescue and more. They played a large part in the operations at the London bombings in July 2005. Since then the desicion was taken to increase the number of FRUs from 10 to 16, with three of the new FRUs now on the run.

Vehicles ued:
 ~ Mercedes-Benz Atego with TVAC bodywork
~ Mercedes-Benz Atego with Papworth bodywork

New Vehicles:
~ 7 x Mercedes-Benz Atego / Papworth ordered, at least one delivered so far.

 

HDC (HEAVY DEMOUNTABLE CHASSIS)

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HDCs are lorries adapted for carrying 'pods'. These are large containers which contain equipment. Pods are used for specialised incidents. The use of a pod system means you can have a single HDC, with a variety of pods for different incidents that can be loaded onto it. This means that there is no need for lots of specialised vehicles.
Pods used by the brigade include hose layers, breathing apparatus support units, damage control units and bulk foam units.

Vehicles ued:
 ~ Volvo FL6.14 with various bodywork

 

HP (HYDRAULIC PLATFORM)

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HPs (Hydraulic Platforms) are a type of aerial appliance used by the LFB. They are similar to ALPs, but do not have a full ladder, and are stored differently when out of use on the vehicle. Like ALPs and TLs, HPs can be used to rescue people, or for firefighting from a height.
All of the HPs are on Volvo FL6.18 chassis, with Simon SS220 booms. The booms were taken off older Dennis appliances from the 1980s, refurbished, and mounted on the new chassis.
There are currently only two HPs, both 1998 models, that are on the run. However, a fleet of older HPs are used as reserves. These are used to replace other aerial appliances that are off the run for some reason. All of the HPs are due to be replaced with an order of eight new Mercedes ALPs due later this year.

Vehicles ued:
 ~ Volvo FL6.18 with Simon SS220 booms

 

L4P (LIGHT 4-WHEEL DRIVE PUMP)

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There is only one L4P in the London Fire Brigade, which is based at E42 Biggin Hill fire station during the winter months, to provide off-road fire cover for when the station's Volvo pump ladder cannot access an incident.
The L4P carries basic firefighting equipment, such as fire beaters, hoses and extinguishers. When not in use, it is stored at the brigade's workshops in Ruislip.

Vehicles ued:
 ~ Vauxhall Brava / Truckman

 

LRL (LONDON RESILLIANCE LORRY)
OSV (OPERATIONAL SUPPORT UNIT)

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There are nine LRLs in the London Fire Brigade, which are Mercedes-Benz Atego box lorries. LRL stands for London Resilliance Lorry, which was the older designation given to the vehicles, which were previously used as temporary IRUs and USAR vehicles before New Dimension equipment arrived. They are now in use as Operational Support Units (OSUs), but still carry LRL fleet numbers.
There are six OSUs based in London, at Ealing, Sutton, Wandsworth, Finchley, Lee Green and Stratford. The vehicles are used for responding to incidents with specialised equipment, and also for general deliveries in the brigade. The three other LRLs are used as reserves and for general purpose usage in the brigade.

OSVs (Operational Support Vehicles) are another new type for the LFB. They are MAN LEs with box bodies. They are used for similar duties as the GPVs, but are more often used on emergency equipment carrying,  rather than routine ferrying of goods.

Vehicles ued:
 ~ Mercedes-Benz Atego with BoAlloy or Eire Trucks box body

 

SSU (SCIENTIFIC SUPPORT UNIT)

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The Scientific Support Unit is an interesting new type of vehicle introduced to the London Fire Brigade in 2005. There are two vehicles, based at Hammersmith fire station in west London, and Poplar in the east. They carry equipment used for monitoring chemicals and can act as a mobile laboratory. The appliances attend fires of eight pumps or more, suspected or confirmed chemical incidents and hazmat spillages.

Vehicles ued:
 ~ Mercedes-Benz Atego / Papworth

 

TL (TURNTABLE LADDER)

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TLs (Turntable Ladders) are the final type of aerial applainces used by the LFB. The TLs use metal ladders (around 30m long), which can be extended and used for accessing high places, rescuing people or fighting fires from a height.
There are two types of TL run by the brigade. There are two Dodge G16Cs with Magirus ladders in South London, at Old Kent Road and Clapham fire stations, and a single Dennis F127 with Camiva ladders at Paddington fire station in Central London. A second Dennis was based at Soho, but this was written off in an RTA and so Soho now run an HP.

Vehicles ued:
 ~ Dodge G16C with Magirus ladders
~ Dennis F127 with Camiva ladders

New Vehicles:
~ 4 x Mercedes-Benz Econic / Magirus TLs on order for delivery in summer 07.

Copyright 2007 Thomas Jefferson.