Aerial Fire Trucks (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Take an illustrated, historical look at the fire trucks that elevate water and firefighters via hydraulic platforms and ladders at a fire scene, the aerials. Inside is a comprehensive look at all manufacturers of aerials through text and captions that give you a brief overview of early aerials, then concentrates on the trucks in use today (1950 to 1999). Photos show fire trucks in action, in posed shots, and details of their equipment.

About the Author

Chicago-based photographer Larry Shapiro is the author of three previous MBI titles: Tow Trucks in Action, Special Police Vehicles, and Pumpers: Workhorse Fire Engines.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: MBI (July 27, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0760310653
• ISBN-13: 978-0760310656
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 8.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #906,946 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Pictures & Interesting History, October 10, 2002

By	Too Cold in Madison (Madison, WI, USA) - See all my reviews

The author of this book knows firefighting apparatus. He's been taking pictures of them for years for various manufacturers and others. His book on Pumpers was great. This continues in the same tradition with dozens of beautiful pictures and an interesting history of the evolution of aerials. There si extensive coverage from 1970 to the 21st Century, as well as a brief, interesting look back to 1900. I can't wait for my copy of Hooks & Ladders to arrive.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Firefighting Trucks over Time: OLA School Fire Mentioned, January 2, 2008

By	Jan Peczkis "Scholar and Thinker" (Chicago IL, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

If you love trucks, engines, and machines, this book is for you! The choice of pictures in this book has a noticeable Chicago-area bias. This is not surprising, as the author is from the Chicago area.

One of the first aerial trucks was the German-designed Magirus. Ironically, the rotating platform it had was originally designed for an artillery piece (p. 17).

Shapiro traces the development of snorkel-based fire equipment, notably the Pitman Snorkel. He also comments: "On the first of December in 1958, a tragic fire broke out at the Our Lady of the Angels school in Chicago. The Snorkel was one of the units sent to the fire scene and put to work performing rescue and fire suppression duties." (p. 16)

This book is not limited to beautiful pictures and general descriptions. Some technical details are also provided. For example, the pump-driven discharge capacity of truck-mounted hoses had risen to the 2,000 gallon-per-minute level (p. 32, 100), then even 3,000 (p. 35) and 5,000 (p. 107, 123). The height to which firefighters can be raised is also a far cry from the early days of wooden ladder-based trucks.

There is a section in this book on future developments in firefighting equipment. Left unanswered is the question about the limits of height to which water can be pumped to fight a high-rise fire. Can some type of machine be built, for example, that would shoot water into the window of a 100th story on fire? Or is that a physical impossibility?

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A VISUAL TREAT FOR FIRE BUFFS, December 9, 2007

By	Gary G. Hess "CAPTAINDAD" (WELAKA,FLORIDA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

AN INTERESTING AND WORTHY BOOK THAT IS A GREAT READ FOR ANY FIRE BUFF.THE PHOTOGRAPHY IS EXCELLENT AND THE COMMENTARY APPROPRIATE.ALTHOUGH THIS VOLUME IS NOT AN IN DEPTH/ACADEMIC WORK IT IS NONE THE LESS A MUST HAVE FOR ANY FIRE FIGHTING LIBRARY.