Customer Reviews

American Volunteer Fire Trucks

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An excellent reference work for fire truck enthusiasts. Arrangement is by decades, with a discussion of changes in fire-fighting technique and improvements to apparatus. Within each decade (chapter), ample photos (B/W) of representative fire trucks in alphabetical order according to make of chassis. As is appropriate to volunteer departments, most are commercial chassis with bodywork and equipment from various suppliers. A few custom-chassis units are shown, but most of this type of equipment is used by urban, professional departments.

I am a serious toy fire engine collecter (over 100 and counting).
This book is an invaluable guide in dating the fire engines and support vehicles that come my way. This book contains the pictures and descriptions of fire engines used by volunteer fire departments over a 150 year span (1850-2000). One note of concern, it virtually ignores the American Lafrance company which made the cadillac of fire engines during virtually the same span of the book.

This book was loaded with B/W pictures of Fire Apparatus from the early part of the century, right thru the publication of the book. Many of the pictures were from Manufacturers own archives, which gives a unique idea of what the equipment looked like pre-service. A great many of the pictures were from WI, and Western US states, with not enough from the Northeastern US.

Color pictures of some of the more noteworthy trucks would have been nice, to set off distinct eras in equipment manufacture.

This book was loaded with B/W pictures of Fire Apparatus from the early part of the century, right thru the publication of the book. Many of the pictures were from Manufacturers own archives, which gives a unique idea of what the equipment looked like pre-service. A great many of the pictures were from WI, and Western US states, with not enough from the Northeastern US.

Color pictures of some of the more noteworthy trucks would have been nice, to set off distinct eras in equipment manufacture.