In MABAS Division 4, a historic photo gallery has been added for the Newport Township Fire Protection District. The gallery contains 48 images from the collections of Bill Friedrich, Jeff Rudolph, and Larry Shapiro dating back to 1953. Rigs are featured from Pirsch, Ward LaFrance, Pierce, Welch, and Mack including the first ambulance for the district.
from the collection of Jeff Rudolph
from the collection of Bill Friedrich
from the collection of Bill Friedrich
The Newport Township Fire Protection District in Wadsworth (Lake County MABAS Division 4) is now represented on the site. They operate out of two stations and their district runs all the way to the Wisconsin border. This department has three engines, a pumper squad, an elliptical tanker, two ambulances, a brush rig, an ATV on tracks, and two 1980s R-Model Mack trucks that are assigned as TRT support units.
Photo by Larry Shapiro
Station 1 is by the Wadsworth Post Office just off of Wadsworth Road but Station 2 has an interesting story to it in a separate article HERE.
Station 1 is at 39010 Caroline in Wadsworth and is full to the brim with vehicles. Larry Shapiro photo
Clarendon Hills becomes the third department posted in Division 10. This single station department is staffed by 56 part-time & POC firefighters. They have a full-time chief and a full-time fire inspector. This is one of the few area departments left which uses the white over yellow paint scheme, and unlike the others Clarendon Hills uses silver instead of gold to decorate the apparatus. Many will remember their Mack heritage which has now given way completely to Pierce. They run an engine, squad, ladder truck and an ambulance.
This Mack CF/Pierce/50' TeleSqurt unit is no longer part of the fleet. It was the last of the Mack units purchased. Larry Shapiro photo
Merrionette Park is the first department to be posted from Division 22. Apparatus images were provided by Dennis McGuire, Jr. and one in particular has a very interesting history. Truck 2614 was previously in service with the Pennsville Fire & Rescue. No. 1, (New Jersey) after leaving service as 1 of 2 Mack Bulldog aerials purchased by the FDNY in 1982. At the time, LTI was building aerial ladders and fabricating bodies for other fire service manufacturers. Mack was supplying engines to New York, Baker was building the Aerialscope towers on Mack chassis and FNDY was purchasing rear mount ladders from Seagrave. In an attempt to capture more of the FDNY business and to expand their overall product line, Mack teamed up with LTI and marketed a private label aerial called the Bulldog I and II Series. LTI built the ladder and body which were mounted on a Mack chassis. “The Bulldog I Series offered midship ladders, rear-mounted ladders and TDAs…The Bulldog program did not prove overly successful with 25 aerials being sold before Mack ceased production of fire trucks in 1983.” (excerpt from Aerial Fire Trucks by Larry Shapiro, MBI Publishing Company.)
For the finest department portraits and composites contact Tim Olk or Larry Shapiro.
