Syracuse FD Light Rescue Vehicles

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As the Syracuse Fire Department gained more experience with its Rescue Company, by 1960 they began to study the high number of simple emergency and first aid runs that the heavy rescue was responding to. It was thought that a smaller unit utilizing two of the company’s personnel could better handle these types of calls, conserving the wear and tear on the larger unit.  Accordingly, in 1962 a light rescue unit was placed in service as the second vehicle of the Rescue Company. This unit would be called the First Aid. The vehicle chosen was a Chevrolet Suburban-based unit, suitably modified by the Automotive Conversion Corporation with ambulance equipment.  Automotive Conversion Corp. introduced the Suburban-based Rescu-All in late 1958. Available on both long- and short-wheelbase Chevrolet and GMC Suburbans, the vehicle was well-equipped for rescue duty and included a full complement of warning lights, a beacon, a siren, head light flashers, medical cabinetry, an attendant's seat, a full-size collapsible stretcher and frosted plexiglass rear window inserts. These types of vehicles were offered by ACC from 1958 through 1979. Cost of the SFD's new unit, delivered in 1962, was $4,990.

 

Here's an excellent shot by Dick Sparrow showing Syracuse's 1962 unit shortly after it entered service:

 



 

The new unit proved to be extremely useful and versatile - and busy!  So much so that it was in need of replacement within only a few years. During those years, the City of Syracuse was capably served by a local private ambulance company, Eastern Ambulance.  They stepped forward in 1970 and made one of their older units, a 1965 Cadillac, available to the SFD. Although the firefighters loved having a Cadillac, unfortunately the nice ride didn't last long. Within a year, the Cadillac was totaled when it was T-boned at a downtown intersection while responding to an alarm. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries - and also fortunately, a new First Aid unit was already on order.  UNfortunately, however, the Cadillac was in service for such a short time that no pictures seem to exist of it, either in eastern Ambulance or SFD livery. What appears below is a quick 'n dirty Photoshop of a rig that isn't ours, just to show what it looked like. I sure would like a "real" photo, if anyone has one.

 



 

The new SFD First Aid unit was delivered in May 1970, and was built by the Gerstenslager Company of Wooster, Ohio.  The vehicle cost $10,475 delivered.  A few years after it entered service, the unit’s radio designation was changed from “First Aid” to “Rescue 2” (the heavy rescue was, of course,” Rescue 1”).