From flames to flowers: Carlow’s fire engines get a second life
Old fire engine fire pump, now mounted as a water feature using a solar pump
WHERE do old fire engines go when they are retired?
Most engines and old equipment are usually scrapped or sent to landfill; however, Carlow County Fire and Rescue Service has been repurposing and rehoming old equipment for use in new biodiversity gardens, which will be officially launched next week.
Features in the gardens include old water tanks being used for rainwater harvesting, breathing apparatus repurposed as bird feeders and old training centre pallets that have been turned into planter boxes.
The biodiversity gardens are just one example of the service’s commitment to supporting Carlow County Council’s climate action plan and being proactive and innovative in its approach to sustainability and the circular economy.
“We have developed small urban spaces within our fire stations into biodiversity gardens,” explains the council’s Acting Chief Fire Officer Ben Woodhouse.
“We are also composting compostable waste from the fire stations into a composter in the gardens which feed the beds, one bed in each fire station grows salad vegetables and fruit for consumption by firefighters and HQ staff,” he added.
The gardens will also give firefighters a space to decompress following traumatic incidents, as well as somewhere for all staff to enjoy during their breaks.
“The gardens have innovatively upcycled old fire service equipment and other materials destined for waste and landfill into various features,” said Mr Woodhouse.
“We’ve even stripped down three old fire engines rather than sending them to scrap and given various parts a new role in the gardens,” he concluded.
Among the most striking features are a 1,800 litre water tank — formerly used in firefighting operations across Ireland and the UK for over 21 years — which now harvests rainwater for use in the gardens; an old fire engine pump, also decommissioned after 21 years of service, repurposed as a solar-powered water feature; old chimney firefighting rods upcycled into a bug hotel; and perhaps most charmingly, a retired fire helmet that has found a new purpose as a nesting site for a local bird.
