Fire engine in the context of "Emergency vehicle equipment"

Fire engine red, also known as fire truck red in North America, is an informal name for an bright red commonly used on emergency vehicles in many countries on fire service vehicles, such as fire engines. The name does not refer to any particular shade of red; different fire services may have their own specifications. Bright red has long been used on fire vehicles.

A firefighting apparatus (North American English) or firefighting appliance (UK English) is any vehicle that has been customized for use during firefighting operations. These vehicles are highly customized depending on their needs and the duty they will be performing. These duties can include firefighting, technical rescue, and emergency medical services.

Driving is the controlled operation and movement of a land vehicle, including cars, taxis, ambulances, fire engines, tanks, vans, trucks and buses. A driver's permission to drive on public highways is granted based on a set of conditions being met, and drivers are required to follow the established road and traffic laws in the location they are driving. The word "driving" has etymology dating back to the 15th century. Its meaning has changed from primarily driving working animals in the 15th century to automobiles in the 19th century. Driving skills have also developed since the 15th century, with physical, mental and safety skills being required to drive. This evolution of the skills required to drive have been accompanied by the introduction of driving laws which relate not only to the driver but also to the driveability of a car.

The term "driver" originated in the 15th century, referring to the occupation of driving working animals such as pack or draft horses. It later applied to electric railway drivers in 1889 and motor-car drivers in 1896. The world's first long-distance road trip by automobile was in 1888, when Bertha Benz drove a Benz Patent-Motorwagen from Mannheim to Pforzheim, Germany. Driving requires both physical and mental skills, as well as an understanding of the rules of the road.

Mirror writing is formed by writing in the direction that is the reverse of the natural way for a given language, such that the result is the mirror image of normal writing: it appears normal when reflected in a mirror. It is sometimes used as an extremely primitive form of cipher. A common modern usage of mirror writing can be found on the front of ambulances, where the word "AMBULANCE" is often written in very large mirrored text, so that drivers see the word the right way around in their rear-view mirror. It is also on fire engines and police cars too.

Some people are able to produce handwritten mirrored text. Notably, Leonardo da Vinci wrote most of his personal notes in this way.Mirror writing calligraphy was popular in the Ottoman Empire, where it often carried mystical associations.

Emergency vehicle lighting, also known as simply emergency lighting or emergency lights, is a type of vehicle lighting used to visually announce a vehicle's presence to other road users. A sub-type of emergency vehicle equipment, emergency vehicle lighting is generally used by emergency vehicles and other authorized vehicles in a variety of colors.

Emergency vehicle lighting refers to any of several visual warning devices, which may be known as lightbars or beacons, fitted to a vehicle and used when the driver wishes to convey to other road users the urgency of their journey, to provide additional warning of a hazard when stationary, or in the case of law enforcement as a means of signalling another motorist that a traffic stop is being initiated. These lights may be dedicated emergency lights, such as a beacon or a lightbar, or modified stock lighting, such as a wig-wag or hideaway light, and are additional to any standard lighting on the car such as hazard lights. They are often used along with a siren system to increase their effectiveness and provide audible warnings alongside the visual warnings produced by the lights.

A water tender, sometimes known as a water tanker, is a type of firefighting apparatus that specializes in the transport of water from a water source to a fire scene. Water tenders are capable of drafting water from a stream, lake or hydrant.

This class of apparatus does not necessarily have enough pumping capacity to power large hose lines (like a fire engine), though it utilizes a smaller pump to draft from bodies of water. Water tenders are used when there is no working fire hydrant within reach of other fire equipment, potentially supplying the fire engine(s) with a very rapid connection. Most water tenders are designed to carry heavy water payloads of 2,600 U.S. gallons (2,200 imperial gallons; 9,800 liters) or more; in the United States, 1,000 U.S. gallons (830 imperial gallons; 3,800 liters) is the minimum requirement according to National Fire Protection Association standards.

A siren is a noise-making warning device. There are two general types: mechanical sirens and electronic sirens. Civil defense sirens are mounted in fixed locations and used to warn of natural disasters or attacks. Sirens are used on emergency service vehicles such as ambulances, police cars, and fire engines.

Many fire sirens (used for summoning volunteer firefighters) serve double duty as tornado or civil defense sirens, alerting an entire community of impending danger. Most fire sirens are either mounted on the roof of a fire station or on a pole next to the fire station. Fire sirens can also be mounted on or near government buildings, on tall structures such as water towers, as well as in systems where several sirens are distributed around a town for better sound coverage. Most fire sirens are single tone and mechanically driven by electric motors with a rotor attached to the shaft. Some newer sirens are electronically driven speakers.

An articulated bus, also referred to as a slinky bus, bendy bus, tandem bus, vestibule bus, stretch bus, or an accordion bus, is an articulated vehicle, typically a motor bus or trolleybus, used in public transportation. It is usually a single-decker, and comprises two or more rigid sections linked by a pivoting joint (articulation) enclosed by protective bellows inside and outside, and a cover plate on the floor. This allows a longer legal length than rigid-bodied buses, and hence a higher passenger capacity (94–120), while still allowing the bus to maneuver adequately.

Due to their high passenger capacity, articulated buses are often used as part of bus rapid transit schemes, and can include a mechanical guidance system and electric bus or trolleybus.Articulated buses are typically 18 m (59 ft) long, in contrast to standard rigid buses at 11 to 14 m (36 to 46 ft) long. The common arrangement of an articulated bus is to have a forward section with two axles leading a rear section with a single axle, with the driving axle mounted on either the front or the rear section. Some articulated buses have a steering arrangement on the rearmost axle that turns slightly in opposition to the front steering axle, allowing the vehicle to negotiate tighter turns, similar to hook-and-ladder fire trucks operating in city environments. A less common variant of the articulated bus is the bi-articulated bus, where the vehicle has two trailer sections rather than one. Such vehicles have a capacity of around 200 people, and a length of about 25 m (82 ft); as such, they are used almost exclusively on high-capacity, high-frequency arterial routes and on bus rapid transit services.