Fire brigade records show that the vehicle was manufactured in 1937 by British automobile firm Leyland and was inducted into the brigade in 1941.
On the afternoon of April 14, 1944, two back-to-back explosions rocked the island city of Mumbai, triggering massive fireballs that engulfed the dockyard and adjoining neighbourhoods. Infamously known as the Bombay dock explosions, the incident remains one of the biggest fire disasters in the city’s history.
The explosions were caused by a British freighter — SS Fort Stikine — which was carrying ammunition for the ongoing Second World War. The ship caught fire in the afternoon and, within hours, massive explosions tore the mammoth-sized vessel into two parts. The impact was so intense that it was recorded by seismographs.
Firefighting operations continued for three days, with the then Bombay Fire Brigade rescuing workers and civilians trapped inside warehouses within the dock compound. Central to these rescue efforts was a vehicle-mounted turn-table ladder (TTL) made of cast iron.
