ROAD RESCUE UNITS
At the start of Strathclyde Fire Brigade they inherited a
number of vehicles, mostly Emergency Tenders and from Western Area Fire Brigade
2 Hose Foam Tenders which turned out to RTAs as they had oxyacetylene cutting
equipment on board. Glasgow Fire Service as well as having an Emergency Tender
had 2 RRUs on Land Rover chassis.
Strathclyde Fire Brigade then decided on purpose built Emergency Support Units (ESU)
which carried cutting and rescue equipment in the side lockers (2 on each side)
and had a powered tail gate on the rear with rails which lined up with rails on
the inside space in the middle between the lockers. A pod was then wheeled onto
the tail gate, the tail gate raised and the pod pushed into the ESU on the
rails. 2 pods could be carried inside the ESU and presumably they were locked in
place to prevent forward or rear movement. There were 4? Pods with each ESU,
Hose, Foam, Breathing Apparatus and Canteen.
The first ESU was a Stonefield (the prototype?) which was followed by 6 on Ford
A0160 chassis (Hill-Billy). They were located 1 to each of the 6 Divisions at
the following Stations:- Motherwell (E2), Easterhouse(A2), South (B1)(On the
closure of South moved to Polmadie), Ayr (D1), Renfrew (C5) and Dumbarton (F7).
The next batch of Road Rescue Units were on Ford Transit MK2 then MK3 chassis.
In 1991 the brigade moved onto Mercedes chassis and these are the last ones as
they are now being taken off the run as Rescue Pumps are put in place.
The last wholetime RRU to go off the run was the one at Polmadie on the 16th
December 2005 and the last RRU to go off the run was the Retained Mercedes RRU
at Lesmahagow on Thursday 18th January 2007 when the Water Tender Ladder
(L722UGA) and Road Rescue Unit (P792UGA) were replaced by one of the first batch
of Rescue Pump Ladders Y548TNS.
|
1979 |
GDS85T |
ESU |
Stonefield P5000/Fulton and Wylie |
F016 |
|
1980 |
LNS305V |
RRU |
Ford Transit MK2 LWB/SFB Workshops |
E146 |
|
1974 |
OGD142M |
RRU |
Land Rover 108/Bennett |
A066 |
|
1980 |
NGD16V |
ESU |
Ford A0160 NAM 4x4/Fulton and Wylie |
E026 |
|
1980 |
NGD17V |
ESU |
Ford A0160 NAM 4x4/Fulton and Wylie |
A026 |
|
1981 |
SGG689W |
ESU |
Ford A0160 NAM 4x4/Fulton and Wylie |
B016/B056 |
|
1981 |
SGG690W |
ESU |
Ford A0160 NAM 4x4/Fulton and Wylie |
D016 |
|
1981 |
SGG691W |
ESU |
Ford A0160 NAM 4x4/Fulton and Wylie |
C056 |
|
1981 |
SGG692W |
ESU |
Ford A0160 NAM 4x4/Fulton and Wylie |
F076/F016 |
|
1983 |
LSU580Y |
RRU |
Ford Transit MK2 LWB/SFB Workshops |
F146 |
|
1986 |
C158GSJ |
RRU |
Ford Transit MK2 LWB/SFB Workshops |
B056/Res/A056 |
|
1986 |
C159GSJ |
RRU |
Ford Transit MK2 LWB/SFB Workshops |
A026/A056/RTA |
|
1987 |
D377RGG |
RRU |
Ford Transit MK3 LWB/SFB Workshops |
E026 |
|
1987 |
D378RGG |
RRU |
Ford Transit MK3 LWB/SFB Workshops |
F016/F076 |
| 1988 | E460SSD | RRU | Ford Transit MK3 LWB/SFB Workshops | E026/BTS |
| 1988 | E461SSD | RRU | Ford Transit MK3 LWB/SFB Workshops | F016/F076 |
|
1990 |
F268WCS |
RRU |
Ford Transit MK3 LWB/SFB Workshops |
E146 |
|
1990 |
G839DCS |
RRU |
Ford Transit MK3 LWB/SFB Workshops |
F146/F226 |
|
1991 |
H517CGD |
RRU |
Mercedes 410D/SFB Workshops |
B056 |
|
1994 |
L806USU |
RRU |
Mercedes 410D/SFB Workshops |
D016/E146 |
|
1994 |
L155XGE |
RRU |
Mercedes 410D/SFB Workshops |
C056 |
|
1995 |
N298NGG |
RRU |
Mercedes 412D/Emergency One |
F076 |
|
1997 |
P792UGA |
RRU |
Mercedes 412D/Emergency One |
E026/E146(P13H3) |
|
1997 |
P737WGG |
RRU |
Mercedes 412D/SFB Workshops |
F226 |
|
1997 |
R287FHS |
RRU |
Mercedes 412D/Emergency One |
D016 |
Early Road Rescue Units Photos
Hill-Billy Road Rescue Units Photos
Ford Transit Road Rescue Units Photos
Mercedes Road Rescue Units Photos
Trailers towed by RRUs Photos