Fire Truck Week: Why they are red

Fire Truck Week: Why they are red

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Fact of the day, Day day day day. Yeah, do
do do do do do do do do do do
do do do do do do do do do do
do do do? Okay, hang on with didn't sound quite
right home. The fact of the day jingle is a

(00:20):
two man job.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
You guys we Yeah.

Speaker 3 (00:25):
I was wondered when that sounded weird with the fact
of the Day jingle.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
I was singing, you are raw dog. I was just
saying speeches of commenced outside with head. Kay, they're doing
the speeches the official naming.

Speaker 3 (00:35):
So we'll find out the name. Yes, so we'll get
we'll do thanks to the day. But you want a
simple one, yeah?

Speaker 1 (00:40):
Do you want like a fun one like a wire?
Fire engines red?

Speaker 3 (00:44):
Yes, because this fire truck is fluo like. I can
also tell yellow. I love that that's floral yellow.

Speaker 1 (00:50):
Why fire engines are now floral yellow Because most city
fire trucks are still red around the world. So fire
trucks were painted fire truck red official red of fire
trucks because at the time when fire engines first, you know,
the motor vehicle.

Speaker 3 (01:06):
They could build enough truck, they could transport enough water.

Speaker 1 (01:09):
It was the most visible color that was manufacturable oh,
they didn't have fluos.

Speaker 3 (01:15):
They didn't have fluoros.

Speaker 2 (01:17):
And it worked out how to make those colors.

Speaker 1 (01:19):
Yeh, yeah, so they made red which would grab people's attention.
If they couldn't hear it, they saw it. The red
would grab their attention and they'd look. But as soon as,
of course it gets dark, red is very hard to see.
So the lights stepped up there. But now they got
to the point where they like, the only thing keeping
us with fire truck red is the tradition that fire
trucks are red. Yeah, so a lot of cities, like

(01:42):
can you imagine New York repainting there, like, especially after
September eleventh, like their iconic. They were always iconic, but
there was something they became more iconic after that huge tragedy.
The fire trucks. A fire truck red, you just can't
imagine a New York truck. And that's why it's just
tradition keeping most fire trucks red. That's I privately own
fire trucks such as the assumed to be named Hawks

(02:03):
Bay Airport fire truck drench is a sexy neon yellow
because it's the easiest to see this high vers yellow.

Speaker 2 (02:10):
Of course it is and day and all night. It's
so you're right though, that they iconic mad.

Speaker 3 (02:16):
I don't know, crowd do apologize. We're broadcasting.

Speaker 1 (02:19):
Oh you're wiggling the headphone cord.

Speaker 3 (02:24):
Radio.

Speaker 2 (02:25):
I just walked in here. They're like, you call like
paint fire engine red or nail polish or lipstick fire
engine red, like we equate it with red now, but
they are mostly yellow.

Speaker 1 (02:35):
It's got a it's official fire engine red has color coordinates.
So you could go into a paint store and get
the pantone. It could get the official fire engine red.
It could be done.

Speaker 3 (02:48):
But the other thing keeping them red now is tradition.

Speaker 1 (02:50):
Okay, when yellow would be a significantly better color for
modern fire trucks because of the visibility at night and
all day. Today's fact to the day is that fire
trucks are only still red because traditions.

Speaker 3 (03:00):
These