Look at These! Firefighter Bikes!

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Did you know…? In the late 1800s and early 1900s, some fire departments sent out their firefighters on shiny red bicycles!! Each one was equipped with a hose, an axe, a siren and a metal helmet to help fight the fire!

Look at this thing!

Firefighter_bicycle

image via Pivari.com

The official name for these cool bikes is “Fire Service Bicycle” and their history is interesting.

Here’s a Fire Brigade quadricycle…

Fire quad

image via Pinterest

And its history:

Used by the New Farm Volunteer Fire Brigade, this red, four-wheeled vehicle was built in 1912 by Howards Ltd. The Fire Brigade quadricycle carried a box for fire fighting equipment and an attachment for towing a hand reel hose cart. The New Farm Volunteer Fire Brigade was established in 1889 in Moray Street. Originally equipped with just two hand-drawn hose reels, the Brigade eventually built a tall lookout tower and station, complete with a loud bell to rouse their members in event of a fire.

The modern version of the Fire Bicycle is a Fire Bike… which is a MOTORCYCLE! Look at this crazy thing!

firefighter motorcyle

image via MyFirefighterNation

Here’s another version… this one is from Mexico City!

Mexico City Firefighter motorcycle

image via Stefan Dietz

I read that firefighter motorcycles are used mainly in cities with heavy traffic congestion. The bikes can weave through traffic to get to the fire faster!

See more firefighting bikes here.