MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Mossel Bay Municipality has a brand new - red - fire engine that was welcomed into service on Friday, 28 June.

The latest acquisition, a 4X4 MAN "major pumper" is ideally suited to fight construction fires, in which the modern composition of materials, such as carpets, synthetics and other building materials require specialised equipment to enable firefighters to effectively and safely fight flames.

Taking into account that some of the fleet of the municipality's fire engines are as old as 30 years, the latest acquisition is extremely welcome.

"The 30-year-old fire engine will ideally now be given a new lease on life when it will primarily be used for educational purposes," municipal spokesperson Colin Puren said.

Since the 1800s fire engines were traditionally painted red. Red was the most expensive colour of paint and used to make fire engines stand out and to give credence to the important, selfless and lifesaving work done by firefighters.

Red vehicles were seen as expensive, a fitting colour therefore for the esteem awarded to the firefighters.

Other sources cite the tradition of painting fire engines red going back to the early 1920s, when Henry Ford only offered cars in black. With all of the black vehicles on the road, the fire service began painting their vehicles red in an effort to make them stand out.

Rather than red, studies have shown that yellow is most easily seen after dark. Today, red remains by far the most popular colour for fire trucks and a variety of other emergency vehicles.

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