@Zordboy said:
"As cool as this set was? I never really understood why the team of fire-fighters needed a tractor.

Are they evacuating the tractor? Or is the tractor dangerous and they need to evacuate other people from the area? The mind boggles."

I feel like they are using it to clear stuff to help with an evacuation. But you are right, it doesn't seem like they would own, and not the custom trailer. That would be something they would commandeer as needed.

Not sure why they need a tractor. The set clearly states that they are evacuating people not moving dirt around!

The vehicle is probably evacuated, as it's not the typical red fire vehicle, but then again "construction" yellow also had overlap with the train theme etc during Town. (also parts were not recolored as often)

So maybe it's just a vehicle for moving obstacles, flamable materials, or sand/dirt on small smothering fires. Maybe there was a 6532 : Diesel Dumper from the same year on-site, that dumped some diesel (joke), they have to clean up the ground it ended up on.

Most likely scenario from this picture would be that they brought the fire car on the truck (probably smaller fuel tank to have more space for a water pump tank), and then loaded off the car and put on the tractor.

The road lights/signs could be either part of the fire people's equipment, or perhaps part of the construction workers equipment.

Interestingly enough 6512 : Landscape Loader from 1992, also was recent set of the day, so maybe the loader in this set was damaged and needed replacement.

Just simple roleplay scenarios, not everything needs named characters or pre-written stories. Not then, not now.

Oh, that’s poor sign placement, there. Must be a rookie, as he didn’t account for how much space is needed to lower the ramps.

@Zordboy:
Wright-Patterson Air Force Museum has a mini-dozer on display. It’s part of their firefighting exhibit. They’re used to knock trees down for removal, and churn up bare earth to create a firebreak.

@Maxbricks14:
Well, sometimes you have to evacuate people with Extreme Force! Just power-shovel them right out the door. Make a new doorway, if you need to. No time to listen to the screams of agony. Get them all to safety, and they’ll feel a lot better!

As an early 90's set it's ok. I've never liked integrated slope and mudguard slope piece. I used the ones I have (can't sell Lego, even the most useless parts), one still remains and can't get rid of it....

I miss that 3x4 fender slope.

Panels were unnecessary then: a 2x2 tile on a 1x2 plate did well if it was a stand-alone. And if it needed to be mounted on something they used hinge bricks. Simpler times.

With all the digging tools they’ve got and a front loader for pushing spoil around, can’t help but wonder if they’re supposed to be the excavation team, not evacuation

Ahh, 1991, that brief era before SYSTEM branding but after LEGOLAND had been phased out.

Weirdly, I have the instructions manual for this, but none of the pieces.

That's a very large trailer for such a small tractor, presumably used to create fire breaks in forests if they can drive it off the extremely narrow ramps without going over the edge.

Okay now that's clever. Temporary fencing as just 1x4 tiles with two 1x2 plates with bars as legs. Stores easily on the trailer, but just pop them off and stand them up. I like it.

@Rimefang said:
" @Zordboy said:
"As cool as this set was? I never really understood why the team of fire-fighters needed a tractor.

Are they evacuating the tractor? Or is the tractor dangerous and they need to evacuate other people from the area? The mind boggles."

Living in a part of California where flash fires speed across the hillsides, our fire departments had tractors to clear the brush and create a no burn zone. It was the only way to stop the spread of fires. And they did have their own transportation trucks t9 get the tractor to the burn site.

And if they're doing this at an active burn, it is absolutely an evacuation. "

What color were the Fire Department tractors? And did the transporters have blue lights?

I built this set with parts I own

@Rimefang:
It wouldn’t be so bad if California adopted proper forestry policies. Yellowstone National Park has, on average, around 300 naturally-occurring forest fires annually, and most of them they just let burn out on their own. It usually only takes a day or two before they run out of dry fuel, and they rarely get hot enough to set green growth on fire. Only if the fire encroaches on developed areas, like roads and buildings, do they actively fight the advance. It’s the fact that they allow these fires to burn off the accumulated fuel in small batches that prevents the entire place from going up like a barrel of oily rags.

I also got to Bryce Canyon this fall, and near the entrance to the park, they had teepee-style woodpiles scattered amongst the trees. Their policy is to gather up all this dry fuel during the warm months, and when winter hits, they’ll burn off all the piles. The cold weather will ensure the fire won’t be able to spread out of control, while during the warm months the piles are far enough apart that fire won’t spread easily from one to the next.

@Bornin1980something:
Color of lights varies based on where they’re located. In Michigan, I’ve only ever seen blue lights on police vehicles. Police, Fire, and Ambulance share exclusive use of red lights. Hearses are either amber or purple. Road services, tow trucks, and anything else use amber, except lately I’ve been seeing green and amber on plows and garbage trucks. Someone commented previously that Chicago Fire uses red and green for the fire chief, because some previous fire chief had a nautical fascination, and wanted his car to look like it had boat running lights.

@Zordboy said:
"As cool as this set was? I never really understood why the team of fire-fighters needed a tractor.

Are they evacuating the tractor? Or is the tractor dangerous and they need to evacuate other people from the area? The mind boggles."

To answer your question I always when under the assumption that this set was a wildland fire set. Based on the 4WD trunk an the bulldozer it reminds me of CALFIRE's flatbed to move fire dozers around. THey use them to make fire lines, clear blush, and dig trenches for forest and wild fires. I think it is definitly a unique set for lego as it has never done one like this.

@Zordboy said:
"As cool as this set was? I never really understood why the team of fire-fighters needed a tractor.

Are they evacuating the tractor? Or is the tractor dangerous and they need to evacuate other people from the area? The mind boggles."

Being a volunteer fire fighter myself, I can assure you: We often use tractors. You see, (at least in Austria) fire fighters not only, well, fight fires, but are also called to car accidents and to clear blocked roads, e.g. when trees fall on the road during a storm.
We don't have a special 'fire tractor' though, when needed, the farmers in our area bring their tractors (almost all of them are volunteer fire fighters too anyway).

We don't use trailers to move the tractors, though. When we are in need of tractors, they get there quicker on their own steam. ;-)

@JavaBrix said:
"The hand-drawn background art of the 90s is so nostalgic."

I agree with you. THey also need to bring backthe Alternate build ideas on the back of the boxes.

They should include a farmer for the tractor, lol.

@BaconKing said:
"They should include a farmer for the tractor, lol."

A goat farmer.

I'm honestly surprsied that LEGO really doesn't have a decent equivalent for the THW (although you could argue, that was RES-Q); who have all kinds of cranes and heavy machinery in their fleet for disaster response and salvage.

Or at least a fire department-marked wrecker or crane. Quite a few larger departments here in the US (most notably, the LAFD and their "Heavy Rescue" rotator-type wreckers) that are used more as cranes for technical rescue situations than they are towing.

These both would be great ideas that aren't the umpteenth police car or fire engine.