Firefighters in Merseyside are trialing BMW motorbikes equipped with two 25-litre tanks of water and a 30-metre hosereels to use them as fire-fighting vehicles instead of fire engines.

A pair of specially modified BMW fire-fighting bikes is capable of putting out two burning cars in two minutes. Liverpool is the first city in the UK to introduce two fire-fighting bikes, with each of the two costing around £30,000.

Riders of the special fire-fighting bikes will be equipped with state-of-the-art equipment that will help them in putting out the fire as soon as they arrive at the scene of fire. These special bikes are expected to arrive at the scene of fire as their chances of entangling in traffic are little.

However, these bikes will be used only to tackle small fire incidents, and will not replace fire engines.

Speaking on the topic, the service's group manager John McCormack stated, “We have no intention of using them to replace fire engines. Our two biggest work streams are automated fire alarms and anti-social small fires, which is what they will be used for."

If the initial six month trial proves to be success, then fire-fighting bikes will be rolled out throughout the nation.