It’s been a while since our last article in The Color of Fire Trucks series. We are up to MABAS Division 11 this time with only one department to feature which previously ran with apparatus that was not red.

The Cicero Fire Department purchased several units in the 1970s and 1980s that were solid white. They had a Ford/Grove 100′ rear-mount aerial, a Ford/Darly top-mount engine, and a unique squad on a Ford F chassis with a light-weight ladder similar to those used by outdoor sign companies.

Cicero Fire Department Ford Grove aerial ladder

Cicero Truck 1 ran with this 1973 100′ rear-mounted Grove aerial ladder mounted on a Ford C-Series chassis. The body was built by American Fire Apparatus. Larry Shapiro photo

Cicero Fire Department Engine 3 Ford C-8000 Darley engine

Shortly after being delivered to Cicero by the W.S. Darley Company in 1981, Engine 3 was photographed outside the station. Built on a Ford C-8000 chassis with a rear custom canopy cab with a top-mounted control panel, this engine had a 1,000-GPM pump and carried 500 gallons of water. Larry Shapiro photo