Posts Tagged yellow fire trucks

Down memory lane …

Another submission from Steve Redick:

This time we will have a suburban installment…

This was a box or 2nd alarm in the old Battalion 7 (Now division 20) … Maywood or Bellwood … not sure which. Some action photos … maybe someone will recognize some of the members in the photos. I always enjoyed the rigs, and always liked the ALF water chiefs, but I think they had lots of problems with the waterways.

Also a coupla shots from a fire in Glenview … a vacant supermarket. The Snorkel is the Glenbrook Snorkel before the rebuild.

Both sets were taken in the 80’s …

Maywood fire department history

Maywood firefighters in the 80’s work a house fire. Steve Redick photo

Maywood fire department history

Maywood firefighters in the 80’s work a house fire. Steve Redick photo

Maywood fire department history

Old modular ambulance from Maywood. Steve Redick photo

Maywood fire department history

Hendrickson/E-ONE engine from Maywood. Steve Redick photo

Glenbrook Rural Fire Protection District history

Vintage fire photo of Glenbrook’s Snorkel working at the extra alarm fire. Steve Redick photo

Glenbrook Rural Fire Protection District history

Glenbrook FPD Pierce Arrow engine pumping during a fire at a vacant supermarket. Steve Redick photo

Broadview Fire Department history

Broadview’s American LaFrance Water Chief Quint. Steve Redick photo

Maywood fire department history

Another view of the Hendrickson/E-ONE engine from Maywood. Steve Redick photo

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Where are they now … Rockford

This from Bill Friedrich:

The City of Rockford had issues with apparatus breaking down due to age so they started purchasing used apparatus. One from Naperville, two from Elmhurst and one from St.Charles. There are no plans to repaint these vehicles to the Rockford FD color scheme.

Naperville Fire Department Engine 2 EONE Hush

Naperville Engine 2 (311), a 1991 EONE Hush 1500/1000. Bill Friedrich photo

Rockford Fire Department Engine 6 X-Naperville

Rockford Fire Department Engine 6 is X-Naperville Engine 2 (311). A 1991 EONE Hush 1500/1000. Bill Friedrich photo

Elmhurst Fire Department Engine 1 Darley

Elmhurst ran this 1990 Spartan Monarch/Darley 1500/500 as Engine 1. Bill Friedrich photo

Rockford Fire Department Engine 15

Rockford Engine 15 is a 1990 Spartan Monarch/Darley 1500/500 which is X-Elmhurst Engine 1. Bill Friedrich photo

St. Charles Fire Department Seagrave engine

The entire St. Charles fleet used to be white over lime green like this 1996 Seagrave fixed cab engine. Engine 106 carried 500 gallons of water and had a 1,500-GPM pump. Bill Friedrich photo

Rockford Fire Department Engine 18

Rockford Engine 18 is this 1996 Seagrave 1500/500 which is X-St. Charles Engine 106. Bill Friedrich photo

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The Leyden Fire District has been added

In MABAS Division 20, the Leyden Fire Protection District has been added to the site. Leyden has one station covering unincorporated Leyden Township. They have 13 full-time, 10 paid-on-call, and 6 contract personnel. Leyden currently houses the MABAS Division 20 Decon unit. They have two ambulances, a quint, an engine, and a utility unit.

 

Leyden Fire Protection District station

The Leyden Fire District station is at 2600 Mannheim Road with a Franklin Park mailing address. Larry Shapiro photo

Leyden Fire Protection District Engine 131

For many years the Leyden apparatus has been black over yellow. They have two ambulances which are this yellow with black accents and striping.

Leyden Fire Protection District

Leyden’s newest unit is this 2006 quint which features a new set of colors.

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New engine for York Center

Engine 75 at the York Center FPD has been added to the site. This now completes the transition to an all-Pierce department for custom apparatus.

York Center Fire Protection District  Engine 75

The 2012 Pierce replaces a 1993 E-ONE Hush.

York Center Fire Protection District

The E-ONE Hush was originally white over lime green.

York Center Fire Protection District fire engine

York Center Engine 75 was delivered as seen here. Larry Shapiro photo

The 1993 Hush replaced a Seagrave PB Series engine.

York Center Fire Protection District Seagrave engine

Two generations back, York Center Engine 75 was this 1973 Seagrave PB Series engine. Larry Shapiro photo

Robbins Fire Department 1973 Seagrave engine formerly from York Center FPD

Robbins Fire Department Engine 2943 was a 1973 Seagrave 1250/5000) that formerly belonged to the York Center FPD. Bill Friedrich photo

 

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Elmhurst added to the site

The Elmhurst Fire Department in MABAS Division 12 has been added to the site. Dennis McGuire, Jr. submitted the images. Elmhurst recently underwent a color change from their long standing white over school bus yellow with green striping to a more traditional white over red. They also changed from a E-ONE to Pierce.

EMS units are staffed by contract personnel while the fire suppression units have career firefighters.

Elmhurst Fire Department Medic 1

Dennis McGuire, Jr. photo

Elmhurst Fire Department Engine 1

Dennis McGuire, Jr. photo

Elmhurst Fire Department Engine 3

Dennis McGuire, Jr. photo

Elmhurst Fire Department Mobile Command and Communications Center

Dennis McGuire, Jr. photo

Previously, Elmhurst had American LaFrance, Pierce, Mack, and Darley engines. The former aerials were both 100′ rear mounts from Pirsch.

Elmhurst Fire Department historic fire apparatus photo

1974 Hendrickson 1871S/Pierce Suburban engine with a 1,500-GPM pump and 500 gallons of water. Larry Shapiro photo

Elmhurst Fire Department American LaFrance 1000 Series

This 1000 Series American LaFrance engine was built in 1971 with a 1,250-GPM ump and 500 gallons of water. Larry Shapiro photo

Elmhurst Fire Department mack Pirsch ladder truck

Elmhurst Truck 1 was previously a 1978 Mack CF/Pirsch that was refurbished in 1992 by RPI. The 100′ rear-mount aerial had a 250-GPM PTO pump with 150 gallons of water. Larry Shapiro photo

Elmhurst Fire Department Pirsch aerial ladder

Elmhurst Truck 2 used o have this 1981 Pirsch aerial ladder that was also refurbished by RPI in 1992. Larry Shapiro photo

 

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The color of fire trucks (part 9) Division 7

This next installment (our 9th) in our series highlighting The Color of Fire Trucks, comes again from Bill Friedrich and looks at MABAS Division 7. This MABAS division covers Kankakee County and part of Iroquois County.

Essex Fire Protection District

Essex ran Squad 1974, a 1974 Dodge Power wagon that was modified by the department. Bill Friedrich archives

This was the only white vehicle in the Essex FD fleet.
Kankakee Fire Department Mack CF Pirsch ladder

The City of Kankakee had two units on CF Mack chassis that were white over lime-green. One was this 1983 Mack CF600 with a 100′ Pirsch aerial ladder, a 1,250-GPM pump and 200 gallons of water. This was Ladder 6. Bill Friedrich archives

In Kankakee, this was one of two lime-green Macks in the fleet, both of which had white roofs. The other was a Mack-CF engine. Both are now gone from the roster.
Kankakee Township Fire Department

The Kankakee Township FPD had this 1975 IHC Cargostar 1910 with an Alexis body, 1,000-GPM pump and 500 gallons of water. It ran as Engine 84. Bill Friedrich archives

The Kankakee Township FD was all lime-green at one time. All subsequent vehicles are painted red.
Pembroke Fire Protection District

Pembroke FPD Engine 139 was a 1972 IHC Loadstar 1800 built by Central with a 500-GPM pump and 500 gallons of water. Bill Friedrich archives

The Pembroke FPD had a few lime green rigs. Now they are all red.
Otto Township Fire Protection District

Otto Township Engine 38 was this 1986 IHC S1900/Luverne with a 750-GPM pump and 500 gallons of water. Bill Friedrich archives

The Otto Township FPD had lime green at one point. Now they too area all red.
Papineau Fire Protection District

This X-Glenside FPD engine is now running as Engine 1533 for the Papineau FPD. It is a 1981 Pierce Arrow with 750 gallons of water and a 1,250-GPM pump. Bill Friedrich photo

This is the only yellow rig in the Papineau FPD fleet. It was purchased last year from the Glenside FPD in MABAS Division 12.
Bourbonnais Fire Protection District

Bourbonnais Engine 63 was a 1976 was built by Howe on a Hendrickson 1871 with 800 gallons of water and a 1,000-GPM pump. Bill Friedrich archives

The Bourbonnais FPD  had a few yellow rigs. All the others were red.
Grant Park Fire Protection District

Engine 112 for the Grant park FPD was this 1963 IHC/Central with 1,000 gallons of water and a 1,000-GPM pump. Bill Friedrich archives

This was the only lime-green rig in the Grant Park Fire District fleet. Everything else has always been red.
Chebanse Township Fire Protection District tanker

Chebanse Township FPD Tanker 2871 was a 1994/2001 Peterbilt 379 built by Midstate Tank. It carried 3,000 gallons of water with no pump. Bill Friedrich photo

The Chebanse Township FPD, in Clifton, had two white rigs, all the rest are red.
Salina Township Fire Protection District

Salina Township FPD ran Tanker 164 which was built on a 1985 GMC F-7000 chassis by Midstate Tank. There was no pump alongside the 2,000-gallon tank. Bill Friedrich archives

Salina Township still has this white rig.  At one point they had a white brush truck. Everything else is red.
St. Anne Fire Department

Rescue 10 saw service with the St. Anne Fire Department. It was a 1967 Chevy Step Van. Bill Friedrich archive

St.Anne FD had the blue rescue truck. This was repainted white/red. Everything else has always been red.

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The color of fire trucks (part 6)

Jeff Rudolph is keeping us honest … and making sure that we’re accurate in our historical postings. He recently submitted comments reminding us of some fire departments that had non-red units which were not referenced in the postings about MABAS Division 3 and MABAS Division 4.

MABAS Division 4 additions:

Abbott Labs Fire Department engine

The Abbott Labs Fire Department in North Chicago had this 1978 Darley foam pumper on a Ford C8000 chassis. It carried 500 gallons of water, 20 gallons of foam, and had a 750-GPM pump. Bill Friedrich photo

The Abbott Labs Fire Department previously had two lime green engines and a van.

Bonnie Brook Fire Protection District tanker

The Bonnie Brook Fire Protection District had this tanker built by Boyer on a Ford L8000 chassis. Larry Shapiro photo

The Beach Park Fire Department was formerly the Bonnie Brook Fire Protection District. They had a brush truck, this tanker, an engine, a squad, and a van that were painted lime green before they switched to red.

Round Lake Fire District FMC engine

Round Lake had this FMC Roughneck engine on a Spartan chassis with the CFC cab. Jeff Rudolph photo

In addition to the two white CF Mack engines that were owned by the Greater Round Lake Fire Protection District, they also had this Spartan/FMC engine.

MABAS Division 3 additions:

Evanston Fire Department 1974 How engine

Evanston had two of these 1974 International/Hendrickson Howe engines that were yellow. Both had 1,000-GPM pumps and 300-gallon water tanks. These were later painted red. Photographer unknown, Jeff Rudolph collection

The Evanston Fire Department received twin engines in 1974 from Howe. They were both bright yellow and assigned as Engine 23 and 24.

Highwood Fire Department Engine 37R

Highwood used this X-Northbrook 1969 American LaFrance as a reserve engine. It had a 1,000-GPM pump with 500 gallons of water. Jeff Rudolph photo

Highwood used a retired engine from Northbrook as a reserve engine. This 1969 AmericanLaFrance 900 Series ran in Northbrook as Engine 60. The rear body work was done while it was owned by Northbrook.

Winnetka Fire Department Rescue 28

Winnetka purchased a small 'DOT' rescue from Pierce in 1981. Jeff Rudolph photo

In 1981, the Winnetka Fire Department received a small rescue on a Chevy chassis from Pierce. Bought with funding from the federal government, it was painted lime green to match the Department of Transportation spec. It was later repainted red and white.

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The color of fire trucks (part 4)

The next installment in this series about Chicago area fire trucks looks into departments in MABAS Division 3 that over the years have changed over to red fire apparatus. Also highlighted is a department that was always red but at one time had an engine that was a different color.

Deerfield had two Ward LaFrance P80 series engines with the Ambassador cab. Engine 720 was delivered in 1973 with a 1,250-GPM pump and Engine 712 came in 1977. Engine 720 carried 750 gallons of water , Engine 712 carried 1,000 gallons, and both were painted white over lime green.

Deerfield-Bannockburn Fire Department 1977 Ward LaFrance Ambassador engine

Deerfield Engine 712 was a 1977 Ward LaFrance P80 with an Ambassador cab. It had a 1,500-GPM pump with 1,000 gallons of water. Larry Shapiro collection

The Glenbrook Fire Protection District (formerly the Glenview Rural Fire Protection District) merged with the Glenview Fire Department in 1992. The original Glenview Rural trucks were red, then sometime after the district name changed  the Glenbrook apparatus was transitioned to yellow. Subsequent purchases arrived yellow. The department had three American LaFrance Pioneer Series engines, one of which was a newer Pioneer II model. They also had a small squad and a 1968 Ford/Snorkel. The red 75-foot Snorkel was refurbished in 1986 and came back yellow from Pierce with a new four-door Arrow cab. Later they purchased a newer squad from Hackney and two Pierce Arrow engines.

Glenbrook Fire Protection District Engine 144 1976 American LaFrance Pioneer

Glenbrook Engine 144 was a 1976 Pioneer Series from American LaFrance with 750 gallons of water and a 1,250-GPM pump. Larry Shapiro collection

Glenview apparatus has always been red. In 1975, they purchased a pumper-squad from Seagrave with a 300-gallon water tank. Squad 8 came white over lime green. This unit was later repainted red but retained the white roof.

Glenview Fire Department 1975 Seagrave PB series pumper squad

Glenview had this one unit that was not painted red. Pumper-Squad 8 was a 1975 Seagrave P-Series with 300 gallons of water and a 1,500-GPM pump. Larry Shapiro collection

For many years, Northbrook painted their units yellow, having previously been red. They had three engines, a Sutphen tower ladder, two squad units, and utility vehicles that were yellow. They also had a matching yellow stripe on their modular ambulances. The apparatus changed to white over red in 1996 when they received two engines, a squad, and a ladder from Pierce.

Northbrook Fire Department Engine 58 1975 American LaFrance Pacemaker

Northbrook Engine 58 was a 1975 American LaFrance Pacemaker Series engine with 500 gallons of water and a 1,000-GPM pump. The Pacemaker was a conventional custom fire cab by TCM instead of an American LaFrance custom Century or Pioneer cab. Larry Shapiro collection

The Park Ridge Fire Department ran with white over lime green apparatus for many years. Including this conventional Pirsch engine, they had a Mack CF/Pirsch mid-mount ladder, a custom cab-over Pirsch engine, and two Seagrave WB Series low profile engines that were painted to match. They also had stripes on their modular ambulances that matched the apparatus. All but the mid-mount ladder were later repainted red.

Park Ridge 1958 conventional Pirsch fire engine

Park Ridge Engine 44 shown here at a fire scene, was a 1958 conventional cab Pirsch with 500 gallons of water and a 1,000-GPM pump. Steve Redick collection

To see the earlier posts in this series, enter the word color into the search field.

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The color of fire trucks (part 3)

The third post in this series outlines the departments in Division 2 that have converted their apparatus over the years to red.

The Bartlett & Countryside Fire Protection District had several generations of engines that were painted bright yellow. These included two Hendickson-Howe engines, one Ford-Howe engine, one Ford-Grumman engine, two Seagrave engines, and a Chevy-Super Vac squad. They switched to black over red in 1986.

Bartlett & Countryside FPD Hendrickson Howe top-mount engine

This unit that was assigned as Engine 612 was delivered in 1973 by Howe. It featured a small top-mount pump console for the 1,000-GPM pump. It carried 800 gallons of water and was on an International chassis with a Hendrickson 1871S cab. Larry Shapiro collection

The Hanover Park & Ontarioville Fire Protection District had multiple units that were white over lime green before switching to black over red in 2001. They had three Hendrickson-Howe engines similar to the ones in Bartlett, a Hendrickson-American-LTI truck, a Spartan-EONE squad, a Spartan-EONE engine, and an EONE Cyclone engine, all of which were painted white/green.

Hanover Park FIre Department Hendrickson LTI fire truck

Hanover Park ran this 1977 American Fire Apparatus unit that had a 100' LTI rear-mount aerial and was built on a Hendrickson chassis with an 1871S cab. Larry Shapiro collection.

Previous posts in this series are HERE and HERE.

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The color of fire trucks (part 2)

Last week’s posting HERE about different colors for fire apparatus mentioned area departments that have apparatus that is not red (or red & white or red & black). Several departments have switched from other colors to red, and several readers pointed out that some still have rigs with the old colors.

This is the first in a series of postings that will highlight the departments that have switched or might have had a unit in the past that was a different color than the rest of the fleet.

Division 1:

Arlington Heights once purchased a Mack CF engine that was a demo and came white over lime green.

Arlington Heights Fire Department 1975 Mack CF engine

Arlington Heights Engine 411 was a 1975 Mack CF engine with a 1,500-GPM pump and 500 gallons of water. Larry Shapiro collection

Elk Grove Village had a lime green Mack CF engine.

Elk Grove Village Fire Department Engine 118 1977 Mack CF

Elk Grove Village once owned this 1977 Mack engine with a CF600 chassis. It carried 700 gallons of water with a 1,250-GPM pump. Larry Shapiro collection

Mt. Prospect used to paint their fleet white over yellow. Over the years, this included at least five engines and two mid-ship mounted aerials.

Mount Prospect Fire Department 1975 Pierce engine Hendrickson

Mount Prospect had two engines with the Hendrickson 1871-S cab. One was built by Boyer, and this engine was built by Pierce with a 1,000-GPM pump and 500-gallon water tank. Larry Shapiro collection

Palatine had a white over lime green Seagrave engine.

Palatine Fire Department 1973 Seagrave PB-Model engine

Palatine had this one 1973 Seagrave Model PB engine with a 1,500-GPM pump and 500 gallons of water. Larry Shapiro collection

Rolling Meadows had two units that were white over lime green. In addition to this Pierce, they had a medium-duty squad with a PTO pump built by E-ONE on a GMC chassis.

Rolling Meadows Fire Department 1979 Pierce Suburban engine

Rolling Meadows ran with this 1979 Pierce Suburban engine that was built on a Ford L9000 chassis. Engine 612 carried 500 gallons of water and had a 1,250-GPM pump. Larry Shapiro collection

Wheeling apparatus used to be white over lime green. From the late 1960s when Ward LaFrance pioneered the push to painting apparatus lime green through the purchase of the 1994 Sutphen tower ladder that is currently being used, all Wheeling units had this color scheme.

Wheeling Fire Department Ward LaFrance P80 Ambassador engine

Wheeling purchased two Model P80 engines from Ward LaFrance on Ambassador chassis. In addition to this 1969 unit, they purchased a second engine in 1971. Engine 1 had a 1,250-GPM pump, 500 gallons of water, and a mid-ship elevating platform with a pre-piped deluge gun. Larry Shapiro collection

And here’s one last image to show the Palm Beach Gardens green that was referred to in the article from the Wall Street Journal.

 

Palm Beach Gardens Fire Department Rescue Engine 5 Pierce Arrow

Palm Beach Gardens Engine 5 shown here as a 1999 Pierce Arrow with a 1,250-GPM pump and 750 gallons of water. This was formerly built in 1990 on a Pierce Javelin chassis. Larry Shapiro collection

 

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