On November 25th of last year, we added the Rockdale Fire Protection District, in MABAS Division 15 to the site. A photo by Karl Klotz featuring Rockdale Engine 2011 was posted with erroneous information. We are grateful to ‘Joe’ from Rockdale who has provided the correct information in a comment.
Hello! I'm a member of the Rockdale Fire Dept. A correction needs to be made here. Engine 2011 is somewhat mislabeled. Originally built by FMC in 1988(Job #7388), it has a Pem-Fab T-942 open cab chassis with the Sentinel body. The pump & tank size shown are correect. In 1999, the engine was involved in an accident in which the cab was damaged. The Fire Dist. contracted with RPI of Tipton, IN. to replace the damaged cab. The remains of Pem-Fab Truck manufacturers had 2-T964 cab shells left. 1 of them became the new cab for this engine. In May of 2000, this engine was placed back in service. It continues to provide protection today.
The photo information has since been updated.
The original post referenced the chassis as being a proprietary design for FMC by Spartan, when in fact it was built by Pemfab. The brochures shown below illustrate two different Spartan designs that were featured. Although cabs and chassis were supplied by both companies, the Pemfabs were not photographed for the literature, even though they were listed as being provided for the custom pumpers. The Pemfab is differentiated from the Spartan by the square black front grill and the side air vent positioned horizontally above the front wheel, whereas the Spartan has a full width black facia and a vertical air vent that is integral with the side and rail. The previous blog post also listed the body style as an Omega, when in fact Joe is correct that it was a Sentinel (SSIII).
This Sentinel brochure illustrates an engine from Baltimore which was built around a Spartan chassis with a 4-door cab. Larry Shapiro collection
The engine featured on the inside panel of this brochure was also built on a Spartan chassis with a 2-door cab. The Spartan version had the full width black facia and the air vent integrated with the handle. Larry Shapiro collection
The rear cover of the FMC Fire Apparatus Sentinel brochure lists the Pemfab cab and chassis for the custom pumper. Larry Shapiro collection
Inset of the Sentinel brochure showing the specifications for the SSIII custom chassis. Larry Shapiro collection
