Oh, to have had the Ward LaFrance sales franchise in Texas in the 1960's & 1970's. Must have made some people very well off!
Can someone explain the popularity of the Booster concept in Texas during the 1970's? I know Dallas and Lubbock ran booster rigs, but I am unclear as to their purpose/criteria for response.
Lastly, I've always noticed that on certain older Dallas rigs, the "mouth" of the B&M S8 sirens is shorter than some others. Does anyone know if this was a B&M feature, or if Dallas chopped them down for some reason?[/quote]
Just to add to the answers you've received so far, here in Dallas the boosters were mainly sent on grass/brush fires with 2 men staffing it off the engine or truck at the station. They also made box alarms and were sometimes very helpful with their extra supply of water to put out a fire that often spared the second up engine from having to lay their 5 inch hose. A few of suburb cities- Plano, Grand Prairie to name a couple actually used their booster trucks on standard engine calls. The engine only ran on box alarms. the engine had a 1 man crew and the boosters had a 3-4 man crew, usually 3 back then in the small cities. All the cities have since gone to using engines for all their calls and the boosters are used mainly for brush/grass fires. In the summer up here it gets very hot/dry and there are a lot of fields, woods that burn readily. Plus passing trains throw sparks onto dry grass a lot and those are a big problem as well. Robert.
[quote name='biotelbob' post='156006' date='Oct 14 2007, 21:14 ']Just to add to the answers you've received so far, here in Dallas the boosters were mainly sent on grass/brush fires with 2 men staffing it off the engine or truck at the station. They also made box alarms and were sometimes very helpful with their extra supply of water to put out a fire that often spared the second up engine from having to lay their 5 inch hose. A few of suburb cities- Plano, Grand Prairie to name a couple actually used their booster trucks on standard engine calls. The engine only ran on box alarms. the engine had a 1 man crew and the boosters had a 3-4 man crew, usually 3 back then in the small cities. All the cities have since gone to using engines for all their calls and the boosters are used mainly for brush/grass fires. In the summer up here it gets very hot/dry and there are a lot of fields, woods that burn readily. Plus passing trains throw sparks onto dry grass a lot and those are a big problem as well. Robert.[/quote]
Hello,
Just wanted to let you know that the HFD's '82 Seagrave 100ft ladder trucks are not completely gone. HFD recently donated the last two of them to the Houston Fire Museum, along with several other units. They were originally assigned to Ladder 68 in far southwest Houston and Ladder 32 in far northeast Houston. The goal of the museum is to pick one to restore and use the other for parts. I let you know the lucky one when it is picked.
10-19-2007, 03:02 PM (This post was last modified: 10-19-2007, 03:03 PM by Ladder 68.)
Good question about the 3D bodies as I never got a good answer when I asked. All of the aerials of this era in HFD had Seagrave chassis with 3D body work except for 1 1984 model assigned to L31. It had a Duplex chassis, Thibault 100' aerial and body work by 3D. It was replaced by an E\-One aerial around '97.
10-19-2007, 03:05 PM (This post was last modified: 10-19-2007, 03:06 PM by Ladder 68.)
This is what the Seagrave/3D 100' aerials looked like after being rehabbed. This is former Ladder 68. This aerial actually rusted from the inside out and was removed and the rig was run as a "Stick Wagon" for a number of months. It too was replaced by a '97 E\-One aerial.
Kenny, is this one that the museum got donated to them?
[quote name='KFDI3' post='157094' date='Oct 19 2007, 20:28 ']I have quite a few pics from Texas that were posted a long time ago. Does anyone have a problem with my re-posting them ??[/quote]
[quote name='KFDI3' post='157094' date='Oct 19 2007, 19:28 ']I have quite a few pics from Texas that were posted a long time ago. Does anyone have a problem with my re-posting them ??[/quote]
I too would really enjoy seeing your rig photos again. The more the merrier!!!!! Thanks, Robert.
[quote name='Ladder 68' post='157034' date='Oct 19 2007, 14:06 ']This is what the Seagrave/3D 100' aerials looked like after being rehabbed. This is former Ladder 68. This aerial actually rusted from the inside out and was removed and the rig was run as a "Stick Wagon" for a number of months. It too was replaced by a '97 E\-One aerial.
Kenny, is this one that the museum got donated to them?
Credit to photographer.[/quote]
Larry,
Yes, that is the one the museum has, right down to the swapped windows putting the Shop Number on the wrong side of the cab. However, it is very rusty compared to the other one. I am pushing to save it for restoring since it has more history than L32 and the fact I spent a few years at 68's.
As far as running the trucks as stick wagons I have a humous story regarding that. While assigned to station 39 in northeast Houston I was working a Debit Day at station 32 when we were dispatched to a man stuck in a tree. We found while a worker was cutting the top off a pine tree his arm became tangled in rope when the top broke loose breaking his arm and pinning him to the tree aprox. 35 feet above the ground.
The Captain called for a ladder truck to reach the man. I few minutes later Ladder 45 rounds the corner with no aerial. The aerial on their '82 Seagrave had rusted out and had been removed for repairs. Needless to say, the Captain had to call for a second truck specifying one with an aerial.
When I get a chance I will post the HFD apparatus has.
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