What is the length of a fire truck?
3 Answers
The dimensions of the Dongfeng dual-rear-axle water/foam dual-purpose fire truck are: Length × Width × Height = 9550 × 2500 × 3400 (mm). Modern fire trucks are typically equipped with steel ladders, water guns, portable fire extinguishers, self-contained breathing apparatus, protective clothing, rescue tools, first aid equipment, and some may also carry large firefighting equipment such as water tanks, water pumps, and foam fire suppression systems. Vehicles generally come in standard, basic, mid-range, and high-end configurations, which respectively refer to: 1. Basic: Usually a simplified version without leather seats or power windows, lacking many electronic control functions; 2. Standard: Includes standard electric controls such as power windows, power steering, and air conditioning; 3. Mid-range: Slightly more advanced than the standard version, including all standard features and possibly additional features like airbags, sunroof, leather seats, power seats, and seat heating; 4. High-end: Higher than all the above configurations, often considered the flagship model of the vehicle.
When it comes to the length of fire trucks, the commonly seen ones are light foam fire trucks or water tankers, generally ranging between 8 to 10 meters, which is two to three parking spaces longer than a regular small truck. Those with 30-meter aerial ladders are much larger, often hovering around 10 to 12 meters, requiring an extra half lane when turning. Special rescue vehicles, like chemical accident response trucks, are even longer, with bodies over 12 meters to accommodate labs and storage tanks. Actually, the length of a fire truck is customized based on equipment—water tank capacity, ladder height, and the number of equipment compartments all affect the size. Nowadays, many cities prioritize models no longer than 11 meters when purchasing, ensuring better maneuverability through narrow streets in older neighborhoods.
The length of a fire truck is not a fixed value. From an engineering perspective, it primarily depends on the chassis type. Light-duty trucks using standard truck chassis are approximately 9 meters long, while heavy-duty chassis equipped with ladder platforms can exceed 12 meters. For every additional ton of water tank capacity, the vehicle body needs to be extended by 20 centimeters. Another critical factor is the turning radius—a 12-meter-long vehicle requires nearly 14 meters of width to turn, which is why new regulations mandate that vehicles over 10 meters must be equipped with an all-wheel steering system. During last year's retrofitting, I measured our local 54-meter ladder truck—its main body alone is 11.8 meters long, and when fully deployed, the entire vehicle occupies half a basketball court.
