Caserne Saint Bernard, France

From the outside, Caserne Saint Bernard is a very uninteresting factory building. It lies on the outskirts of a small town, adjacent to an active recycling company. However, dusty crimson relics lie inside this unassuming building. This is a “cimetière des camions de pompiers”; a cemetery of fire trucks. Within the dilapidated factory is a wonderful car graveyard. We visited the barracks in the summer of 2018, on the first leg of a long summer road trip (read more here: France Road Trip 2018 Blog).

The fire engines in here include;

• 1968 Berliet Maginus. Automatic Swivel Ladder EPA 30m hydraulic. One of 8 vehicles of this type manufactured.
• 1964 Berliet GAK pump van
• 1940s CCF GMC vehicle
• 1960s or 1970s model Renault 4L

The museum that never was

Little information exists about this Caserne Saint Bernard. There is one evocative tale drifting through the internet, as such emotive stories seem to do. The story sets the scene with a young boy, with a dream to become a firefighter. Eventually, he comes of age and registers for selection at his local brigade. He aces all the physical tests and passes this stage as one of the best in his class. His dreams were soon destroyed. He failed the medical tests and was told he could never become a firefighter. He was deeply saddened by this blow, having his aspirations crushed.

In time he found a new passion. He would build a firefighter museum! The man raised enough money to fund this project and began amassing paraphernalia. He used his connections in the fire department to acquire vintage these fire engines; saving them from the scrapyard. A friend allowed him to store the engines here at Caserne Saint Bernard.

For one reason or another the man, now in his late 20s or early 30s, now disappears. One theory, is either financial or personal hardship forced him to leave his home town. The fire trucks have now started disappearing, likely being sold or transported elsewhere.

The cousin of Caserne Sainte Barbe

This location is also called “Cousine de la Caserne Sainte Barbe”; the cousin of Caserne Sainte Barbe. Similarly, this was also a large factory building filled with old firefighters engines. Both locations are also in France.

However, this older location was emptied of its red engines circa 2015. These fire engines were, mostly, taken by a museum in Switzerland. Given the large number of fire trucks that once resided here, it seems unlikely all of them were taken by a single museum. It is possible that some of the vehicles also were sold to other museums or private collections. Some online reports also suggest the museum deal fell through at the last moment. Perhaps these Sainte Barbe trucks are hidden in yet another factory, awaiting rediscovered.