I came across a little ditty about why fire trucks are red. Has anyone else come across this?
The reason a fire engine is red in the first place is that.....firemen wear boots, in a boot goes a foot , a foot makes a ruler, Queen Victoria was a ruler , she ruled the waves, the waves make the sea, the sea has fish, fish have fins, the Fins fought the Russians, the Russians are red, a fire engine is always 'Russian' that's why a fire engine is red!

Hi Mark. Yes that is an old one, but I have not heard it for ages. LOL should be some interesting stuff posted over the next little while.
This is as old and as silly too. Why are fire engines red? Well so would you be if you drove down the main road with your hose hanging out!

well guys.. I wish I could answer this question... but you've already beaten me to the punch.. lol I sit here.. Red faced from laughing so much... shows how old all three of us are....

Bob - welcome along. Should be very entertaining.
Gelorup - welcome and thanks for the comment. Course you can join with white fire engines! But in your case ... why are fire engines white? LOL the mind boggles.

Some years ago now the New Zealand Air Force painted all the Crash Tenders a colour called "Threshold Orange". Stood out really well for incoming aircraft but was universally known as "Nipple Pink".

RED stands out of all colors, as DANGER, don't know guessing

Our new truck, supposedly being delivered next month with be rural fire Yellow

Hi, its Steve from IPN. No matter what color your rig is, let me offer everyone our sign-up special: become a dispatcher for IPN and receive 100 bonus points just for signing up! Go to www.incidentpage.net/disp-app.cgi and mention STEVE in the "how did you hear about IPN?" section. Thanks!

Ever since I was a child...(at the age 0f 4 I loved seeing and hearing Fire Trucks) Fire Trucks have been RED. A nice medium dark red, the color of fine red wine. In my mind and I would think in the minds of most, RED is the color that is thought of when you say "FIRE" and therefore RED is a "NATURAL" when it comes to the color of fire trucks. If fire trucks are White... people think of vehicles belonging to the sanitation department, hospital, or ambulance. If a fire trucks are Yellow.... that brings to mind "School Bus", road crew or some other road related vehicle..... BETTER KEEP THEM "RED" cause thats the color a fire truck should be.

When I was Young I was born during the Lime-Yellow movement here in the US,but the majority of companies had red trucks with a few execptions,such as Yellow and white,in 1985 a different color was chosen for our trucks from the regular red & white.Many stories,or excuses have come my way over the years,but the color ended up being Shapphire Metal Flake BLUE capped with Silver Metal Flake.An yes it is different,totally but our company has become known for it and there have been only 4 in Erie County ,N.Y.there is a link to our website on my profile to view them and i think most of you can agree that while really different it looks pretty cool.More opver our 1st fire truck was a 1928 Sanford/Buffalo pumper painted Grey with Blue or red fenders & running boards.Also working at a local engine plant i've seen many other strange but true colors includeeing ,PINK,PURPLE,BLACK,ORANGE,TEAL & MAROON.To name a few

Fire trucks are red because of tradition. back in the early days of the fire service red was the most expensive color and showed great pride in you dept

Hi Tony, Yes I think the silver over metalic blue looks pretty cool too. Do you have a larger photo of the Sutphen?
Cheers
Gary