New Kensington, PA Bureau of Fire

[OPEN CAB MACK]

   

This is the 1935 Ford.  It was one of 3 that the bureau had.  There was a 1933, 1935 and a 1937.  All on a Ford chassis.  All of the bodies were built out of aluminum at the New Kensington works of the Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa).  New Kensington was the birth place of Alcoa.  Previously, it was known as the Pittsburgh Reduction Company.  When it moved to New Kensington from Pittsburgh's strip district, it was incorporated as the Aluminum Company of America in 1891, thus giving New Kensington the nickname as "The Aluminum City".  Many of the firefighters worked at the plant and after their normal shift, they stayed and built these 3 rigs.  Probably the first aluminum bodied fire engines in the world.  Another tidbit is that Alco-Lite Ladders were a division of Alcoa, and Station No. 1 has the very first Alco-Lite ladder built.