Lake Alfred Fire Department Fire Truck

I shot this photograph of one of Lake Alfred Fire Department's fire trucks at the Winter Haven, Florida Airport. It was parked in the parking lot without it's emergency beacons lit, so I presume the crew was either doing an inspection or planning possible scenarios in case of an emergency. Fire Firefighting is mostly a matter of training and planning how to do it in the safest manner possible.

When I was a volunteer Firefighter many years ago I learned that this was technically a combination pumper/tanker truck. What that means is that it carries an on board pump to pump the water through the hoses for usage on fires and it also has a several hundred gallon water tank aboard for up to about three minutes worth of water for the pump. It also carries a large amount of smaller equipment for use by the firefighters that is typically stored in compartments throughout the vehicle. There are many other types of emergency vehicles to complement the abilities of this piece of fire apparatus.What most people refer to as “Fire Trucks” are referred to in the fire fighting service as “fire Apparatus” because they are actually complex systems used to fight fires and deal with other public emergency concerns.