Fire Engine No. 9 or Dust Cart no. 9?

This is the long vista of the South Mall in Cork...Is this a really early fire engine filling up from a hydrant? Or is there another explanation why No. 9 needed water?..Date: 1871-1883..NLI Ref: STP_0972 ( vtls000564288 ) . .You can also view this image, and many thousands of others, on the NLI’s catalogue at catalogue.nli.ie ( http://catalogue.nli.ie )