Suffolk fire engine set to make history

Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service has donated one of its former fire engines to a local museum, enabling it to be preserved for future generations to enjoy.
Published: 19 Aug 2022
SFRS donates fire engine to Ipswich Transport Museum
The vehicle began its life with the service in July 2003, where it was based at Haverhill Fire Station until 2009, when it relocated to Ixworth Fire Station.

In April 2017, it started being used as a reserve fire engine, serving 35 stations across the county, before moving to the service’s training facility at Wattisham to train new recruits.

Ipswich Transport Museum took delivery of the donation today, Friday 19 August, to ensure that the vehicle could form part of its upcoming ‘Ride a Fire Engine Day’. The event, due to take place on Monday August 29, offers free rides on the museum’s magnificent fire engines, as well as a selection of visiting machines.

Eddie King, volunteer at Ipswich Transport Museum, thanked Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service for gifting the engine:

We are immensely grateful to receive this generous donation from Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service, which will join our collection of emergency vehicles, buses, trams, lorries, cranes and more.Fire engines are always incredibly popular with our younger visitors, many of whom want to be firefighters when they grow up, and this latest addition will hopefully inspire them further.

The museum is already home to fire equipment dating as far back as 1732, including an early 20th century Canham Fire Hose Cart and a Dennis New World Fire Engine from 1939.

Jon Lacey, Chief Fire Officer for Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service, commented on the donation:

I am delighted that our former fire engine will be preserved locally to enable many future generations, including school children, to learn more about the important history of firefighting.It has served Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service well for almost 20 years, and attended countless incidents in this time, but we are now starting to replace older models with state-of-the-art vehicles to benefit from the latest innovations in green technology, as we work towards becoming a net zero authority.

Today’s donation follows Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service gifting two fire engines to help their counterparts in war-torn Ukraine earlier this year.