Last Update January, 2007
In the introduction of our book, we asked our readers to provide us information on the apparatus that appear in this book. As we obtain new or revised information about the apparatus, we will provide you this information by using this link. Please check back often to see new revisions. You may supply revised information by using the Feedback link.
Updated January 25, 2005
Firehouse Baltimore Expo 2004 – July 18
We wanted to thank everyone who stopped by our table at the Baltimore Firehouse
Magazine flea market and either purchased a copy of our book or already have
purchased a copy and just stopped by to say hello. We had a great time meeting
and speaking with many of you.
A common question…
We have received several comments and questions on why photos of some Fairfax
County fire trucks were not included in the book. For example, under a
particular station, we have an older photo of the station’s engine company and
then a newer engine that run’s from that station. The comments and questions are
around the fact that the particular station ran one or even several other engine
companies between the times of the photos, yet we did not include those photos.
There are several reasons why a photo may not have been included. First,
although rare, we did not have a photo of the vehicle. We did extensive research
to find photos and obtain accurate information. However, as we said in the
Introduction section of the book, “we know we missed a few rigs because photos
were not available to us”.
Second, it is important to realize that a department the size of Fairfax County
purchases many apparatus in “bulk”. Look at the 1970’s and early 1980’s with the
Seagrave engines, beginning in the mid 1980’s with Emergency One, etc. Often we
made the decision to not include a particular apparatus because the same or
similar truck was included in another photo found under another station.
Finally, the number of photos that could be included and keeping the cost of the
book reasonable were factors we had to consider. Quite frankly, we are very
proud of the fact that the book contains over 500 photos used to capture the
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department’s apparatus history.
We struggled on decisions to include or not include particular photos. In those
rare situations a photo was not included because we just did not have a photo of
the apparatus. However, we did not include other apparatus because an identical
unit was purchased and is included in the book under another station.
Page 37 – Herndon
Tom Shand of New York provided some information on the unique open cab Ford
C/Young pumpers that were purchased by Herndon and Navy-Vale (Station 21). These
rigs were one of seven open cab Ford C wagons built by Young. They were built
for Clinton, Maryland (2), Ridge Culver, New York (2), Sara Zane Fire Company of
Winchester, Virginia, and the Herndon and Navy Vale pieces. These seven pumpers
built by Young were not identical and were built in different years.
Page 53 -
Paul Fleer noted that the rehabbed ambulance marked Rescue 8 is a 1980 Chevrolet
with a 1972 Swab box. It is incorrectly labeled as a 1975 Ford. Thanks Paul.
Page 60 and 61 -
There have been numerous questions about Mt. Vernon’s American LaFrance turbo
pumper as shown on page 60 and the “1966” American LaFrance pumper shown on page
61. Are they the same? We know that Mt. Vernon converted the 1962 turbo to a
standard gasoline engine. Old rosters show a 1966 American LaFrance engine at
Mt. Vernon, and another photo of Mt. Vernon’s 1966 American LaFrance appears on
page 98 under the Chantilly section. So, where are we now? We believe the pumper
on page 61 is actually the Turbo (shown on page 60) after the conversion to a
gasoline engine. Thanks to Paul Fleer for beginning this “debate”. If anyone has
additional information, please let us know.
Page 66 – Bailey’s Cross Roads
Middle photo of the 1966 Ward LaFrance. This was built on a Cincinnati cab and
was Ward LaFrance’s P-82 model. These were brought out to compete in the market
as the custom hand built cab (P-80) model like Wagon 10 at the bottom of the
page was more expensive to produce than the Cincinnati cab. Thanks to Tom Shand
of New York for this information.
Page 107 and 108 -
Paul Fleer gave an interesting insight on Centreville’s old tankers. It appears
that the tanker body from the 1960 International (page 107) was transferred to
the Ford C tanker on page 108.
Page 111 - Jefferson
The top group photo of Jefferson’s apparatus was photographed in 1959, not 1957.
Thanks to Walt Saunders for providing this clarification.
Page 113 - Jefferson
Tom Shand of New York provides some excellent clarification on Seagrave
apparatus. The Seagrave KB units were produced from 1959 through late 1969. The
PB model with the wider cab (noted by the width of the front fenders) was built
starting in the fall of 1969. Any of the 1960’s vintage Seagrave wagons were KB
models; the tractor drawn ladders were KT models
Page 136 - Fair Oaks
The 1987 Pierce Arrow heavy squad that was rehabed in 1995 by Pierce was
recently sold to the City of Newport, Vermont. Rescue 421 had approximately
225,000 miles on it and Newport has repainted the squad to red and white. It
looks great! Ironically, it is marked as "Heavy Rescue 21" for Newport. For many
years it ran as Squad 21 at Fair Oaks. I looked for a web link for Newport that
might show the picture but was unable to find one. Special thanks to Michael
Defina in Maryland for sharing this information.
Page 138 - Springfield
There seems to be some confusion about where Springfield purchased the 1953
International/American pumper from. There is no indication that Oxon Hill,
Maryland ever owned this apparatus. Does anyone have additional information to
clear this up?
Tom Shand provides additional
information regarding the International/American engine that ran from
Springfield. Oxon Hill, Maryland Station 42 in Prince George’s County operated a
1954 International R190/American 750/400 from 1966 until 1971 as their Engine
423. Station 42 opened in 1962, so it is still unknown where Oxon Hill purchased
this engine. The Springfield volunteers purchased the International from Oxon
Hill. Thanks Tom for the continued updates.
Update - More and final information from Tom Shand on Springfield’s 1953
International/American. The International was originally ordered by Landover
Hills, Maryland (Prince George’s County). They ran the International until
approximately the mid 1960’s, and then sold it to Oxon Hill, Maryland. It ran a
short time at Oxon Hill, and was then sold to Springfield. The Springfield FD
then sold the International in 1972 to Jack Slagle, who sells used fire
apparatus.
Page 150 - Edsall Road
The Mack/Oren engine was used as a squad while the department was awaiting the
arrival of the 1984 Ford C/Emergency One squad shown on page 151. Thanks to
Wesley Gerald for providing this information.
Page 173 - Reserve/Miscellaneous
Clarification on the middle photo - this photo was taken at Station 10 when the
1974 Seagrave was running as a temporary reserve engine.
April, 2005
Page 3 – Introduction
Station 7 was originally assigned to the Occoquan, Woodbridge, and Lorton VFD
Occoquan Station located in Prince William County, Virginia. Thanks to Ken Bacon
of Pennsylvania for this information.
Page 4 – Firsts and Last List
Ken Bacon has provided some insight on our first and last list:
First monster medic: 1976 from Fairfax City. See page 28 of Fairfax City’s “motor home” medic. We used the traditional “monster medic” definition in saying that Bailey’s Cross Roads had the first monster medic, however, the Fairfax City unit does qualify as a rather large medic unit.
The first tractor drawn ladder truck was the 1966 Seagrave 100’ tiller that was delivered to Annandale Station 8. See page 52.
The first county purchased aerial platform was the 1982 Hendrickson/Conestoga/LTI as shown on page 154 for Station 28. As an interesting side note, this large aerial platform was originally ordered for Station 11 (Penn Daw). However, it would not fit in the station so it was re-assigned to Station 28.
The first use of cross lays was Annandale’s 1963 American LaFrance pumper on page 51.
The first cab forward apparatus was the 1951 American LaFrance from Mt. Vernon Station 9 (page 59), then the 1955 American LaFrance from Franconia Station 5 (page 39), and then the 1955 American LaFrance from Station 8 (page 50).
The last gas-powered engine was Franconia’s (Station 5) 1970 Ford C/Young (page 42). It had a Ford 534 gas engine.
Page 25 – Fairfax City
Top photo. This delivery photo is the 1965 Pirsch, not the 1959 Pirsch as noted
in the text. The 1965 Pirsch is also shown on page 26. The delivery photo on
page 25 has no front bumper intake. The Pirsch on page 26 does. The 1965 Pirsch
was involved in an accident that required bodywork on the pumper. It returned
with the addition of a front intake. Charlie Hunter, who now owns the 1965
Pirsch, also notes that the 1965 has dual headlights on each side, where the
1959 Pirsch has single lights. As noted on page 25, the 1959 Pirsch was sold to
Lovettsville, Virginia. We appreciate Charlie Hunter for providing the
additional information on the Pirsch pumpers.
Update January 2007
Page 38 – Franconia
Ken Bacon let us know that the first fire apparatus purchased by the Franconia
VFD were a 1925 Brockway/American LaFrance that came from Richmond, Virginia and
a Ford Model T.
Page 21 – Vienna
Correction: MedTec built Vienna’s 1996 Freightliner monster medics
Page 45 – Franconia
Correction: Tower 5 is a 1999 Pierce Dash
Page 67 – Bailey’s Cross Roads
Correction: The 1983 Duplex/Young was sold to Walnut Bottom, Pennsylvania
Page 123 – Lorton
Correction: Lorton’s 1982 Emergency One is a Hendrickson cab
Page 28 – Fairfax City
From David Gledhill (volunteered in Fairfax City for 10 years) – “The monster
medic motor home you refer to that the city had in the late 70’s and early 80’s
was affectionately referred to as the ‘Bittle Bus”, named after one of our
members, Bill Bittle. He was instrumental in getting it”.
Page 53 – Annandale
Mike Bishop now owns the 1974 Seagrave that was Wagon 8 in Annandale. The
Seagrave was purchased by Shenandoah, Virginia from Annandale and painted to red
and white. Mike purchased the Seagrave from Shenandoah, and plans to restore it.
Page 94 – Burke
Some updated information from David Stemple on Burke’s old Quint 14, the 1991
Pierce Arrow 1500/500 with 75’ ladder. David writes, “I lived in Fairfax County
till 1996 just after Station 14 burned. I now live in Lake Monticello VA the
home of former Quint 14 now Truck 53”.
“Truck 53 now operates as a Quint. 1st out for the most part on 1st due house
fires, first out on county building and government structures. Carries gas meter
and thermal camera, rope and repelling gear, stokes. Only truck in the county.
Used to augment our water rescue van on tactical rescue and rope rescues. Runs
with hazmat trailer from Palmyra Fire on hazmat runs”.
Page 163 – Tanker 32
Information from David Stemple – “Tanker 32 was originally purchased and
assigned to Tanker 16. According to firefighters in both stations at the time
the tanker had to be transferred to the next closest station when Station 16
needed to be torn down and moved across the street. There was not enough room to
keep the tanker on site so Station 32 took it for a few years while the project
was being done”. Eventually, the tanker was moved from Station 32 to Station 16.
Mt. Vernon
Ken Bacon let us know about some very interesting information he found about an
old Fairfax County engine. Mt. Vernon once ran a 1966 open cab American LaFrance
engine. It also served as a Fairfax County reserve engine. It is now restored
and at the Boston Fire Museum!! Apparently, it was restored in the Washington
D.C. area and some how ended up with a lawyer from Cape Cod, Massachusetts. It
was then obtained by the Boston Fire Museum. For some photos of the 1966
American LaFrance, visit
www.bostonfiremuseum.com . Click on “Photo Gallery” and then “Engines,
Pumpers, & Carriers”.