Brandweerwagendepot Gent
‘Brandweerwagen Depot Gent’ was a shed full of abandoned fire trucks. The depot was owned by the Fire Museum in Aalst. The trucks were moved to another depot in 2020.
The Fire Museum in the Belgian city of Aalst was run by a team of volunteers called “The Private Fire Brigade”. The group started in 1993. Their goal was simple. They wanted to save old fire trucks from the scrap heap. They restored these vehicles and used them for events, demonstrations, rentals, and publications.
Over the years, the team built a huge collection. More and more historic fire engines and tools arrived. Step by step, the collection became one of the largest in the world. Many restored trucks were shown in the museum in Aalst. The vehicles that still needed work were kept in a depot in Gent.
In 2020 the museum in Aalst closed its doors. A new museum was not ready yet. Because of this, a large move was planned. The volunteers called it “Operation Backdraft Roadmap”. All vehicles and materials went to a temporary storage site in Ravels. The work continues there today. I visited the ‘Brandweerwagendepot Gent’ in 2018. Also check this other fire depot in France here.
