Houston Fire Department Apparatus

[Ladder 68]

Bob...good stuff again. As for our old Seagrave/3D 100' aerial, no it wasn't kept by choice. It was originially delievered white like the others. Around '94-'95 it was sent to TDC Huntsville and "refurbed" and painted red. When it returned and was placed back in service the aerial was found to be rusting from the inside out when it was set up one day on the apron for apparatus day. Orders were issued not to use the aerial and it ran as a "stick wagon" for a few months before going downtown and having the aerial removed. It then returned, sans aerial, and ran again as a stick wagon until being replaced by one of the 1st E\-One trucks in '97. It was disposed of directly not spending any time as a reserve (go figure without an aerial).



After this era of apparatus, and beginning with the '97 trucks and '99 pumpers, the HFD fleet as a whole has turned around in a big way. From reserves that were barely usable to our current reserve fleet, HFD is leaps and bounds ahead of where we where 10 years ago. We even have reserves with air conditioning now...Ha.