Vintage Photos from Shelby – Green Aerial Ladder & Red Water Tower

From the files of reader/contributor David Raynor, here are vintage photos of two unusual rigs from Shelby, NC. That’s Cleveland County, to the west. Top is Water Tower 30 (also called Ladder 30 at some point), a 1983 Ford F800 with local bodywork and a 35-foot articulating “water tower.” A former electric company bucket truck, …

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Updated – North Myrtle Beach’s New Blue & Red Pierce Platform

July 17 Our friends at North Myrtle Beach Fire Rescue have provided extensive additional details about their new truck, as well as photos and a historical perspective. The new Truck 714 is a 2016 Pierce Arrow XT mid-mount platform, 95-foot. It features a 2000 GPM Hale pump, a 300 gallon poly tank, a 500HP Detroit …

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Yesterday’s Apparatus Collision in Wayne County

The New Hope Fire Department in Wayne County has posted these pictures of their Engine 1, which was rear-ended yesterday while responding to a call. It was struck by a tractor-drawn gasoline tanker on Highway 70 Bypass near mile marker 336, at the emergency turnaround. There were no injuries, no was was there any leak …

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Revealed – Mystery Vehicles!

July 10 Answers are… Charlotte Decon 1, GMC step van – October 1996 Durham rescue, red car, and small truck – March 1986 Greensboro white car, 1979 Chevy Malibu – July 1985 Fort Bragg Engine 11 – June 1988 Guilford College Chemical 39 – October 1987 Raleigh Engine 3, 1986 EEI/Pemfab – 1987 Click to …

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Guest Post – My Antique Fire Trucks by George Mills

By George Mills, a former Chief of Bay Leaf VFD Last year Mike asked to me write a posting about antique fire trucks. Here’s that article from August 2015, where I wrote about several restored and decaying American LaFrance rigs in North Carolina. This time I’m write about my antiques. Beginning with my first, a …

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Garner’s New Engine 1

The Garner Fire Department yesterday received their new Engine 1, a 2016 Pierce Impel pumper-tanker 1250/1000. It will replace a 2012 Pierce Saber pumper-tanker. By my count, this is their sixteenth Pierce fire engine, since the delivery of a 1984 Pierce Dash pumper 1000/700. The new engine is the fourth of four Pierce Impel pumper …

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Articulated All-Terrain Aerial Platform Fire Truck From South Africa

Lee Wilson found this one, and shared on social media. Would you believe a converted Caterpillar 740B articulated all-terrain construction vehicle converted into a heavy-duty fire truck complete with aerial platform? Cobra Petro Projects built the thing which is believed to be a world’s first. (At least with the aerial platform added. We’ve seen similar …

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