History of the Atlanta Fire Dept.

[Guest]

This looks to be a late 70's shot of Station 21 when they were located at 248 Buckhead Avenue. Did Ladder 21 have a Mack CF very long? The only Aerialscope Mack CF's that i have seen before were at the ATL airport. Also in a sad bit of irony, this old firehouse which was closed before the new 21 opened in 1984 will soon be demolished to make way for a new mixed used development in that area. Some of you may remember this as The Lodge Bar.

[Shoe]

Engine #29. 1983 ALF Century. 1500/500. Replaced about 2001 with the current leased Spartan/Quality. The rear-mount Seagrave was reserve as T-29 when this shot was taken.

[Shoe]

Truck #29. 1988 Grumman 100' Ladder Tower. Replaced by current leased min-mount.

[Guest]

One of my many fire-related hobbies has been trying to organize complete motorized apparatus rosters of major-city fire departments in the USA. I have been working (off and on) on an Atlanta motorized apparatus roster for many months. I have been using many varied sources of information including old Atlanta FD Annual Reports; both the 1959 and 1975 AFD “Prompt to Action” history books; various fire apparatus manufacturers delivery lists; and (of course) the many posts that have appeared on Firepics.net.



I have been very frustrated trying to find the two 1950 Atlanta FD Pirsch 65-foot Mid-mount aerials on the Pirsch delivery list. They both appeared in AFD Annual Report station photos and rosters I have from back in the 60s (thanks to Duane Troxel). There are two AFD 1950 Pirsch pumpers and two AFD 1951 Pirsch pumpers listed, but there are no 65-foot Pirsch aerials listed for Atlanta. I did note however, that Fulton County received two 65-foot mid-mounts from Pirsch in 1950 and I have been wondering for some time if somehow they could have ended up in the City of Atlanta.



Today, when I was doing further research in the 1959 Atlanta FD :”Prompt to Action” (at the Duane Troxel Memorial Library in the Firefighters Museum here in Minneapolis), I noticed that when they were describing the accomplishments of AFD Chief of Department Charles C. Styron (1939-1959) that he was credited with integrating four Fulton County Stations into the AFD in the late 40s and early 50s. The two Pirsch 65-footers were listed as being put into service at AFD Station 23 on June 19, 1950 and at AFD Station 25 on November 15, 1950 (both former FCFD Stations) in “Atlanta FD Firsts” in the same “Prompt to Action.” It also stated that Chief Styron added two additional AFD stations to the four Fulton County stations (for better coverage) that he integrated into the AFD at that time.



Here is either one of the Fulton County/Atlanta 1950 Pirsch 65-foot (Pirsch # 1850 or 1851 delivered on May 23, 1950) or it could possibly be a 1955 Pirsch 65-foot (Pirsch #2190) mid-mount that I shot with a long lens back in the early 80s at the AFD shops (I'm sorry now that I never got close enough to look for the serial number).

[Shoe]

Any "Fulton County" rig prior to 1978 would be an Atlanta rig. The Fulton County Fire Department did not come into existence until 1978. Atlanta provided fire protection to the unincorporated areas of the county until then.

[GA_Dave]

I concur with Shoe's comments. The Fulton County Fire Department didn't exist until the late 1970's, BUT Fulton County did pay for the construction of several fire stations and apparatus prior to that. There is a guy I know on the AFD who kept very extensive records on their apparatus for many years. He should be able to help you out with the rosters you are working on. I'll contact him and send him your way.

[Guest]

I'm not sure how this evolved into a thread about Truck 21, but I was talking to a friend of mine (current Truck Driver at 21) who sent me this old photo. Anyone want to try Identifying this Truck?

[GA_Dave]

Very interesting! It's an International VCO-196/American LaFrance 65'. Never knew that Atlanta ever had one. It was out of frontline service by 1974.

[Guest]

GA_Dave and Tom2e - It is listed in the 1962 AFD appratus roster I have as a 1958 IHC 75-footer assigned to Ladder 21. I'm not sure how this piece (Ladder 21) came about either considering Atlanta bought a Pirsch 75-foot Mid-Mount in 1958. Ladder 21 is also pictured in the 1975 Prompt to Action AFD yearbook at AFD Station 21, but was not listed on the 1985 AFD roster I have. I just wonder if this could have been another piece purchased by Fulton County. I also discovered that Fulton County purchased a Pirsch engine in 1939, in addition to the two Pirsch 65-foot aerials they purchased in 1950.

[jim kay]

Great info and photos being shared tanks to all that are sharing in this great topic....Now I guess I can return to my History journey......



Let me pick up with Sta.21



Station 21 began life in the Buckhead area of Atlanta located at 248 Buckhead Ave. and opened in June 1931...Here is a photo of old Sta. 21 as it sat in the summer of 2007.....soon to be demolished in the wake of progress,Firemick can fill in the info with this.....

[jim kay]

Sta.21 on Buckhead Ave. closed in 1982 to relocate to their new Quarters at 3201 Roswell Rd. NE which is just a few blocks north of the old location....While awaiting the completion of the new sta. Eng. 21 operated out of Sta.39 (not sure where Truck 21 and Batt. 6 moved too.) forgot to write it in my notes.....



Stone for new station 21 and Photo of Station 21 with all units in the house from left to right Truck 21- Engine 21- and Batt. 6.......

[jim kay]

Truck 21

[Shoe]

Here is how I remember the story, as it was told to me. I am not 100% sure (or even 50%) so corrections are welcome...



There were plans to replace Station #21. At some point, an accident occurred where Truck #21, the Mack backed through the rear wall of the station and compromised the integrity of the structure. The land on Roswell Road was either available or already owned by the city. Rather than repairing a station that was already destined to close, they decided to replace the station. Station #32 at the airport had recently been planned or built. They simply took the plans for the airport station and built it in Buckhead. That is why there is an airport style station in Buckhead. In the interim, Engine and Ladder #21 ran out of Station #39 and Battalion #6 ran out of Station #29 at Monroe and I-85.

[Guest]

Here is a photo I took in early 1984 of Station 49 with Ladder 21, Engine 21 and Engine 39 parked out front.



-1984 Photo by Steve Skaar

[Guest]

Wow, ther sure have been a lot of different rigs designated as T21!

[Guest]

One more addition to my previous photos. Among the Items I received in 1989 was an advertising pamphlet for Pirsch Ladder trucks. This must have been published in 1967 or 1968, because there in the pages of that booklet was the picture of Truck 1 that I posted earlier.... except that the black and white photo was not good enough. They had hand-colored the photo, and it looked like this:

[Guest]

Here is a photo of Decon 21. It is a hazmat/decon support vehicle and tows a trailer with the suicide jumper bag.

[Guest]

Trailer that Decon 21 tows. They actually responded the other night to a man threatening suicide that climbed up a construction crane.

[Guest]

Battalion 6 (Quartered at 21) Ford Excursion. AFD still uses chiefs aides as well.

[Guest]

Paramedic Engine 21 (I believe a 2000 Spartan/Quality 1250 gpm/500 gbt)