How a Fire Engine Works

An in-depth, x-ray style look inside a fire engine or "pumper truck".

PATREON
Help me keep making videos:

PRIVATE WORK
Need 3D illustration and animation? Let's chat:

LICENSE Animagraffs' work for your own purposes

WEBSITE
See more explanations of how things work:

SOFTWARE USED
I use Blender 3D to create these models. It's free and open source, and the community is amazing:

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:23 Exterior
1:34 Pump panel
3:58 Pump
5:03 Master stream
5:41 Water tank
6:23 Rear storage
9:40 Drafting
10:03 Cab

Correction:
0:10 Before commenting, check the top pinned "VIDEO CORRECTIONS" thread.

[animagraffs]

VIDEO CORRECTIONS (compiled from viewer comments):

From user "Mike Gasking"
4:28 It is possible to have a 3, 000 GPM pump (or even more on an industrial pumper for a refinery, etc.) but it would be uncommon on a pumper like this one, it would be more commonly 1, 500gpm these days

From user "SpartacusColo":
7:11 SCBA's are filled with breathing air: the same ambient air we all breath. They are not oxygen tanks.

Please add your comments to this thread to help others learn accurate info!

[ronaiosa]

As a firefighter for the last 10 years, I was expecting another wildly inaccurate video with information from who knows where, but I couldn’t believe how accurate this was (concerning the apparatus and pump) Fantastic job

[jrbowlder]

I’ll be showing this to our students at our next Engineering class. Awesome work.

[samus]

I could tell within 10 seconds that I would be watching this repeatedly with my 3 year old! Thank you so much for the dedication it takes to put one of these together

[FF]

Been a firefighter, driver engineer for 14 years. Love the old Q too. The air horn and Q are controlled by a foot pedal from either driver or officer side of our engine. Our engine is all manual, no electronics on our operator panel. This video is pretty modern, looked like a universal storz fitting in front driver compartment. We draft alot and do shuttles from tankers, not many fire hydrants here. When we draft a real pond we use a large screw on strainer. Great video!!!

[thomasmcmahan]

I’m watching this after just having checked off a fire truck just like the one in the video. I’ve got to say, as someone who drives one of these for a living, you’ve nailed this video.

The animation, the terminology, the descriptions and uses. This video was actually spot on with how a fire truck really is, even down to the individual tools. Not to mention you talking about the different fire extinguishers, a small detail but a thorough one you did.

Fantastic job with this video, and all the research that has to go into it!

[elliotmarks]

The detail in the modeling and texturing for these videos is INSANE! Nice job!

[OldTimerGamer-prow]

Excellent video of the basic functions of a fire engine. The rest of us who actually drive and work on them will always have some additional info to share. But this is great info for public knowledge.

[danielnembhard]

This was incredibly legit! I was a firefighter for nine years. I wish this was available when I began training on the pumpers. I’m very interested in sailing someday. Could you please make a video on how modern sailboats work?

[jonshort]

I'm an emergency vehicle technician, doing service and maintenance on fire trucks and rescue equipment for the city's fire departments. Of course all trucks are custom built for each fire department, but I'm impressed on how accurate this video is. You even correctly identified each individual part of the truck. Very cool!

[grosbeakmc]

Extremely well done - the level of detail is excellent, the flow of information is thorough and smooth, and the audio is great. A quality production - thanks for sharing!

[prodigy]

You can clearly see the time and dedication you put into this. Mad respect

[KB-gdfc]

Been a firefighter for 14 years and I learned something from this. Excellent job on this video.

[rkkastarshina]

Great video! I'm a german firefighter and I'd love to see a video of a german fire truck (best choice would be an HLF)

I can already tell you some things: German fire trucks are usually packed with a LOT more eqipment, therefore have smaller water tanks (in our station both LF and HLF carry 2000l of water, and 150-200l extinguishing foam)
In germany, every fire truck with a pump has it on the back. The crew cabin reach from 6 to 9 seats, 6 is called a ''Staffel'' and 9 is called a ''Gruppe". In our station, LF and HLF both are Gruppen-vehicles, one driver, one officer/group-leader and 3 troops of 2 firefighters with each troop having their own task.
The design of the vehicles is also different of course

[azuldiablo]

This should be shown at all intro to pump classes. Fantastic video. Being able to see individual components in their correct spots will make learning the basics of a pump much easier to understand. Great work!

[Marshaze]

A great overview of a standard pumper. Towers and Ladders would be an interesting follow-up to this!

[jorgemartiperez]

I discovered this channel some months ago and I've been having a blast watching all your videos. I was thinking, would you mind doing something like a Q&A someday? I would love to know what programs you use, how much time you put into these animations, if you get help from anyone and so on. Keep the content coming, this is the high quality part of youtube and I couldn't thank you enough for giving us the opportunity to enjoy these videos for free, all the luck!!

[jamesbronson]

Amazing 3D work; I started doing 3D construction using main frame computers in 1982 for GE Nuclear Energy Division, which at the time was only 3D wireframe. This sort of imaging and animation was something we could only dream of...

[ryanwood]

Boosters are usually only 1 inch and the crosslays go from 1.5” to 3” but 3 is Usually used as supply. The deck gun can not create a heat barrier. Radiant heat will go right through it. It’s why water curtains are no longer a thing. Also the reason we don’t go in with a master stream is that it will steam us out and hurt us because there is no control on how it disrupts the thermal layer of the fire.

[theamaturepro]

Jake, this is the first time I've seen your work and I'm blown away with your work. You're one of the handful of "content creators" that actually creates. The time you've invested in this video is beyond what I can begin to guess at. I hope you're making bank and having the time of your life!