Fire appliances in the United Kingdom
They are normally based on truck chassis and weigh over 12 tonnes, meaning they require an LGV licence to be driven.
Some brigades use slightly smaller appliances based on gross vehicle weight of 7.5 tonnes, which do not require an LGV licence.
They are common in rural brigades where narrow lanes and rough terrain would be difficult for a larger fire engine to negotiate.
The appliance also carries breathing apparatus, lighting, tools, trauma care packs, water rescue gear, lines (ropes), hoses, and possibly chemical protection suits and foam.
It is normally mobilised to augment and support the initial appliance or to respond to secondary, less urgent incidents.
It is essentially a large crane fitted with a caged platform which can be hoisted to heights well over 30 m (98 ft) in some cases.
An aerial ladder platform is designed to deploy an elevated master stream of water, or to provide a method of rescuing trapped persons, the 'knuckle' design of the arm of an aerial ladder platform means that it is very manoeuvrable for rescue situations.
They are usually used in rural locations where they can more easily negotiate tough terrain, narrow streets or remote access to certain areas.
The vehicle carries equipment to support normal fire appliances and crews, typically at prolonged or major incidents.
The advancement of technology and potential for very large-scale incidents has led to more fire services using or increasing their use of mobile command units.
A fundamental advantage of such an appliance is to accommodate the many different types of communication equipment needed at major incidents.
In addition to the wide range of radio frequencies used, fire chiefs often need to communicate via landlines and send and receive information via satellite links and CCTV of the ongoing situation.
At large protracted incidents firefighters may be subjected to physically arduous work in inhospitable situations such as extreme heat.
At the scene of incidents, the dog wears specialist protective 'fire wellies' on his or her paws to guard against injuries from broken glass or hot material.
New Dimension vehicles are large curtain-side trucks designed to be deployed at incidents involving chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) materials or for urban search and rescue (USAR) use at the scenes of natural or large-scale disasters.
The New Dimension vehicles are owned by the government, rather than the fire and rescue service and are stationed at strategic locations throughout the UK.
They were used to great effect and in vast scale to assist operations at the Buncefield fire in Hertfordshire in 2005 and nationwide flooding in 2007.
