Firefly

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Firefly
Type	Fire-fighting and debris-clearance
Affiliation	International Rescue
Top Speed	50mph
Main Operator	Virgil Tracy
Appearances	City of Fire Cry Wolf (cameo) Terror in New York City

The Firefly is a pod vehicle designed by Brains. A dual-purpose fire-fighting and debris-clearance vehicle, Firefly's forward-mounted shield is constructed of Cahelium Extract-X - providing heat protection from intense temperatures and resilient dozer- blade capability. The shield allows access for the barrel of a heavy-duty gun armed with nitro-glycerine shells. These can be used to snuff out otherwise-uncontrollable fires, and for major debris clearance. Rear-mounted water and foam dispensers can be used for vehicle-cooling purposes, and for blaze control.

History

The Firefly is used to clear a path through the burning rubble in City of Fire, so as to enable the Mole to drill down into the underground passage-ways of the collapsed Thompson Tower building and rescue the trapped Carter family.

Clearing a path for the Mole

Overhead view of the clearance

In the furnace

Job done, returning to the Mole

When Bob and Tony Williams visit Tracy Island in Cry Wolf, they are taken on a tour of the island. They see the Firefly, among other pod vehicles, parked in storage in the Pod Bay, nearby the Thunderbird 2 hangar.

International Rescue are called to action in Terror in New York City when an oil well burns out of control. Scott oversees the operation from a near by gantry, while Virgil in the Firefly fires a charge into the base of the fire to extinguish the flames.

Technical Data

Technical data on the Firefly was published in issue 15 of Redan's Thunderbirds magazine, along with a cutaway.

• Length: Inconclusive
• Weight: 62 tons
• Top speed: 50 mph

Firefly in Pod 3

Caheliumised quartz window allows driver to see through shield in lowered position

Virgil at the controls of the Firefly

View of the heat-resistant shield constructed from Cahelium Extract X and ceramic additives

Nitro-glycerine gun can be used to fire shells to extinguish flame-outs or clear debris

Cutaway Drawings

Main article: History of the Cutaway Drawings (Classic Thunderbirds)

At least four cutaway drawings of Firefly - three of which were illustrated by Graham Bleathman - are known to exist:

• The first appeared in the 1968 Thunderbirds annual
• The second appeared in issue 15 of Thunderbirds The Comic
• The third appeared in issue 15 of Redan's Thunderbirds magazine
• And finally, the fourth featured in the 50th anniversary edition of the Haynes Thunderbirds manual

Thunderbirds annual 1968 edition

Thunderbirds The Comic

Redan magazine

Trivia & Notes

• The rear-mounted turret is never used during Firefly's appearances.
• The Firefly prop is believed to have been recycled into a vehicle from an episode of Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons - specifically, Fire at Rig 15. Its new job is closely related to firefighting, but it now drops explosive charges into the inferno at the oil well that was sabotaged at the start of the episode.
• Firefly was carried in Pod 3 in City of Fire, and in Pod 6 in Terror in New York City.
• In the TV Century 21 story Tracy Island Exposed, Scott drives Firefly - fetching it from storage in Pod 2 - after a giant aircraft hijacked by the Hood crashes into Thunderbird 2's hidden hangar, causing a tremendous explosion...
• In the Redan story Sun Spot, Brains introduces two remote-controlled versions of Firefly - which are promptly destroyed in action.

Terror in New York City

Model Construction

The Firefly model was built using a Vickers Vigor tractor kit. The Mole and the Gray and Houseman Explosives Truck also used this motorised toy tractor as a basis.