Fire engines that catch fire

South Yorkshire fire bosses hailed their new fire engines as “state of the art” when they splashed £3 million on them.

There’s only one problem—they keep catching fire.

The firefighters’ FBU union says the engines have caught fire three times.

It says there have been two incidents where smoke was coming off broken vehicles—and one burst into flames at the scene of a blaze in Barnsley. More firefighters had to be called to put it out.

FBU union rep John Gilliver said, “They are the machines from hell. They’re an absolute joke.”

The engines previously had to be modified at a cost of £700,000 after it was found they were too heavy for British roads.

Now South Yorkshire bosses are planning to close four fire stations to claw back the cash they have wasted.

“Somebody could end up paying for this with their life,” said John.