Fire Trucks 4 Hire | Fire Engine, Fire Truck, Fire... vehicle?

Fire Engine, Fire Truck, Fire... vehicle?

While we all tend to call the big red vehicles "fire trucks," there is actually a distinct function for the various types of trucks. (We hit on most of the common types, although there are even more specialized vehicles out there, like Hazardous Materials, airport crash/rescue, crew transports, Search & Rescue, air/light support, decontamination vehicles, command vehicles, aircraft, and more.)

Truck Type	Brief Description	An Example
Engine	The Engine is the workhorse of most fire departments. These are usually the "first in" vehicle to a fire or medical call, (ideally) carrying a crew 4 or more firefighters, water, hoses, ladders, tools, and medical supplies as well as other tools. There are a number of sub-types of Engines as well, including those typically found in town (Type I), brush/4x4 engines (Type III), and a hybrid of in-town design and high-clearance design for an Interface engine (Type II).
Rescue	A Rescue is effectively a toolbox on wheels, outfitted with a wide variety of tools and equipment to help in all sorts of rescues, including vehicle extractions (i.e. Jaws of Life), water rescues, rugged terrain rescues, etc. For areas without a need for a full-time Rescue vehicle, the resources found in a Rescue vehicle may be built into either an Engine or a Truck vehicle.
Quad	A vehicle type rarely named as such on the West Coast, but a vehicle capable of four of the five functions: pumping, carrying water, carrying fire hose, has an aerial device and carries ground ladders).
Quint	A vehicle type rarely named as such on the West Coast, but a vehicle capable of pumping, carrying water, carrying fire hose, has an aerial device and carries ground ladders.
Tiller	A tillered truck refers to a vehicle with a second driver in the back of the vehicle. These are sometimes referred to as a "hook-and-ladder," or in fancier terms, a "TDA" (Tractor Drawn Aerial). In terms of categories, these are considered a Truck by many fire departments. These are popular in cities with a number of narrow streets, as this truck can navigate better than vehicles with the traditional, single driver design.
Truck	A truck is an apparatus with an aerial ladder, with a straight-ladder or a platform on the end, used to elevate firefighters, perform rescue tasks and elevate water streams. Traditionally, trucks did not carry water, pumps or hose, but many departments now incorporate these features into apparatus to create a vehicle with a number of firefighting functions in a single vehicle.
Tender	A water truck is referred to a Tender in the West Coast (as "Tankers" out here usually refer to aircraft that dump water). These vehicles tend to carry 1,000+ gallons of water, have a small pump to spray from the bumper-mounted sprayers or from a roof nozzle or hose reel. (They also generally have a large "dump" valve to empty the tank's contents into a portable pond/tank for use in remote firefighting activities.)
Strike Team	At least in California, if you see a convoy of five fire engines and a command vehicle (typically a SUV), you are looking at a Strike Team going to, or returning from, a request for resources to battle a large fire. In this photo, we see the white command vehicle and two of the five engines in the team (stopped for lunch on the way home from a fire).