A recent trip down to the Southern part of Virginia allowed me the opportunity to stop off at some fire departments to catch up on some fire apparatus photos. Most of these FD's were off of the Interstate 81 corrider of the state, which goes from Winchester down to Tennessee.
First up is Middletown, Virginia in Frederick County. Middletown is located outside of Winchester.
Also at Middletown is Engine 12, a 1998 Pierce Dash 2000 1250/1250 with job number EB620. Reported to be the first Pierce Dash 2000 model within Virginia.
Toms Brook, Virginia in Shenandoah County was the highlight of my stops. Many of you will recognize this piece as it attended the recent Apple Blossom firefighters parade in Winchester, Virginia.
Toms Brook had hoped to bring their new Tanker 9 to Winchester, but it was not ready for service yet.
Toms Brook was one of several fire departments in Virginia that was a New Lexington "casualty" when the New Lexington fire apparatus company went out of business. Unfortunately the volunteers at Toms Brook lost a great deal of money.
I found a second New Lexington casualty at Grottoes, Virginia in Rockingham County. Their new tanker was completed by KME and was just recently placed into service.
Roanoke Airport is not far off I81 and is Station 10 in Roanoke City. One side of the station runs the engine and medic. The back side of the station ramps goes directly to the airport and runways. Because of security, I was not allowed onto the "airport" grounds to get photos of Roanoke's new crash truck. No problem....the guys at Station 10 just backed the crash truck out on the front ramp of the station, which was fine for photos.
This was a nice surprise at the airport because I thougt this Oren tanker was long gone. It is no longer owned by the Roanoke Fire Department....its new owner is the Roanoke airport but they continue to keep the tanker at the fire station and it still has its fire department lettering. Not sure what plans the airport has for this truck.
I arrived in Marion, Virginia during the early evening with rain and thunderstorms. The following day, I had the quick opportunity to drop by the Marion Life Saving Crew (Rescue Squad) in Smyth County. It was recommended to me to stop by that station because of an interesting older ambulance the department still owns.
First up is that old ambulance, Unit 41. The department members tell me that this ambulance was purchased with "H and H green stamps". Some of our more "seasoned" firepic members will have to fill us in on that program
Unit 41
1965 Dodge Power Wagon 100/Franklin Body Equipment Corp. (Brooklyn, NY)
Unit 43 is Marion's extrication unit for auto accidents. The Rescue Squad is primary responders for auto accidents with assistance received by the Marion fire department.
The last piece I photographed at Marion was Unit 45. This was the department's previous rescue squad and was replaced by the 2005 Freightliner in the previous post. Unit 45 is now the department's "bad weather" truck and also carries some additional technical rescue equipment.
Unit 45
1976 Dodge W30 Custom 300/Morysville/Murphy Body Distributors
Last stop for this trip was Raphine, Virginia in Rockbridge County. This was one of those accidental finds where I stopped off to get some lunch and found the fire department by "mistake". Ok...maybe I drove a little further down the road than I needed to. I found two very nice members at Raphine very willing to move trucks around. They are also very excited about a new black over red Sutphen engine that is due within the next several months. I plan on getting back to Raphine to photograph that one.
Still in service is Engine 121. This Chevrolet sounds awesome coming out of the station. It had an slight encounter with another vehicle which did small damage to the front bumper.
Tanker duties at Raphine are handled by Tanker 126, a 1988 GMC/FMC 1000/1000 with serial number 7138. I was surprised that Raphine did not have a larger tanker but there are hydrants within the area and they receive mutual aide from other FD's for water when needed.
The guys at Raphine were very nice. While photographing some of the other trucks, one member drove down to a truck repair shop in Raphine where Brush 123 was sitting awaiting some minor mechanical work. He drove the truck back to the station so that I could get photographs - now that is Virginia hospitality!!
Brush 123
2004 Ford F550/KME
500/300/10
GSO # 5725
That's it for now....I think that I will have a variety of these Virginia trips in the future and will keep adding to this thread as I am able to photograph apparatus.
Mike, what a great mix of old,new, and unusual! Look forward to the next installment. It was good to see you yesterday at the apparatus sweat-fest in Westminster! <img src='http://www.firepics.net/groupboards/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbsup.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />
[quote name='mnsand' post='114975' date='Jun 3 2007, 09:59 ']Unit 43 is Marion's extrication unit for auto accidents. The Rescue Squad is primary responders for auto accidents with assistance received by the Marion fire department.
Unit 43
2005 Freightliner 60/Chief's Fire and Rescue
Mike Sanders
Ashburn, VA[/quote]
Sorry....typo on the year - it is a 1995 FL60/Chief's Fire and Rescue
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' /> [quote name='Andrew2340' post='115003' date='Jun 3 2007, 10:25 ']Great pics Mike, looks like you found some neat trucks![/quote]
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