Down memory lane … North Maine FPD

These images are from the archives of Steve Redick

Steve Redick photo

Tags: historic fire truck photos, North Maine Fire Protection District, old fire engine photos, Seagrave fire engine picture, Steve Redick, Ward LaFrance Ambassador, Ward laFrance fire engine photos, Ward laFrance Grove ladder truck picture

This entry was posted on December 7, 2013, 7:24 AM and is filed under Fire Department History, Fire Truck photos, Historic fire apparatus. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

12 Comments

#1 by Drew Smith on December 10, 2013 - 8:32 PM

Hey Ira, I hope you are still enjoying retirement!
- #2 by Ira Goode on December 11, 2013 - 10:06 AM
  
  Thank Drew, Retirement is good. I am Volunteering with the Gilbert AZ. Fire Dept. Community Assistance program.
#3 by Ira Goode on December 9, 2013 - 8:47 PM

fmddc1 what is your name? I worked at North Maine from 1975 to 2000. I drove every one of those rigs.
#4 by fmddc1 on December 9, 2013 - 6:21 PM

Funny enough crabby, I wrote mine too without coffee first!LOL! Anyway I don’t really remember either when they stopped running the truck with the engine and Niles or DP took it over. My dad said he think’s it might have been mid to late 70’s. POC’s would man it or ENG-2 depending on the need. The segrave used to be buried behind the ambulance in the first bay by the radio room. It was easy to over look even as you stepped out the second apparatus room door to run to eng-1. She was cleaned up really nice back in the early 80’s and I believe made some parade appearances. But she was not maintained well enough and never recertifed the pump and was gotten rid of. Real shame too.
#5 by Crabby Milton on December 9, 2013 - 6:51 AM

I meat that it was years later that I found out that MFD’s 1964 SEAGRAVE was the same age as me. See what happens when you post without coffee first?
#6 by Crabby Milton on December 9, 2013 - 6:28 AM

I noted the SEAGRAVE because Milwaukee had a ’64 very similiar to that one and the only SEAGRAVE pumper Milwaukee ever had since MFD was obsessed with mostly MACK at the time witha few PIRSCH rigs. That is the rig that planted the seed of interest for me as a youngster in the late 70’s. It wasn’t until many years later that MFD’s 1964 SEAGRAVE was built the same year I was.
#7 by Bill Post on December 8, 2013 - 5:17 PM

I remember visiting North Maine’s station when they still had the Ward La Frances. I wonder how long and until when they actually ran with the Truck company and when they had stopped running the Truck company as for quite a few years Niles Truck 2 has been following North Maine Engine 1 as the Truck with Engine 2 as the second Engine and just west of North Maines’ station is Des Plaines which would dispatch is fire department whose nearest station was Des Plaines Station 1 on RIver road and before that on Miner street.
#8 by fmddc1 on December 8, 2013 - 5:41 AM

By the way, thank’s Steve for posting those! Lost all my pic’s over the years and it was nice to see the old rig’s again.
#9 by fmddc1 on December 8, 2013 - 5:39 AM

Hey, Crabby. The seagrave is a 65 and the ward’s are 69’s North Main opened it’s door’s in 69 and the seagrave was purchased as a reserve. My father started as a p.o.c. under Chief Dale Moore and my brother and I years later under Chief Richard Holtz. Engine one eventually went to pierce to be rebuilt and came back with a Detroit 8-71 v and a new pump causing frame stress and damage to the poor rig. But all was fixed and she ran great. All other rig’s remained gas jobs, and Niles alway’s used the truck when theirs went down. That old Seagrave was a blast to drive! Used to be a great place to work.
#10 by Drew Smith on December 8, 2013 - 12:31 AM

If my memory serves me correctly that aerial was a Grove which I believe was the predecessor to LTI.
#11 by Mike Mc on December 7, 2013 - 11:20 PM

I never saw a WLF mid-mount before. That must have been a very rare rig. Does anyone know if it is an American LaFrance ladder? Love the old double red and white dome lights on the WLF rigs. Too bad they had electronic sirens but nobody’s perfect.
#12 by Crabby Milton on December 7, 2013 - 11:15 AM

Thanks for the eye candy. You don’t see many WARD LaFRANCE’s anymore. Do you happen to know the year of that SEAGRAVE K?