Blog

A North Carolina brush truck burned in a fire in wheat field over the weekend.

The Pembroke Rural Fire Department rig responded to the burning field around 7 p.m. Sunday, and the driver tried to tried to get in front of flames headed toward homes, Robeson County Sheriff’s Lt. Brian Duckworth told FayObserver.com.

“The truck hit a wet spot in the field and it got bogged down,” he said.

The muffler sparked a fire under the truck, valued between $60,000 to $70,000, according to Duckworth.

Children may have started the original fire in the wheat field, Duckworth told FayObserver.com.

FayObeserver.com’s full story is here.

Do you want to sell a rig? Click HERE to find out how with SellFireTrucks.com.

Some new Ohio firefighters are eligible for college scholarships after their department donated a fire truck to a local community college.

Clark State Community College offered 15 scholarships worth $15,000 to the Springfield Township Fire Department with the donation of a 1990 rig, Springfield News Sun’s Richard Quick reported.

Clark State has a 1990 model for training now, but it has 260,000 miles, and Springfield’s donated truck has just 36,000 miles.

“The fire training program needed a more reliable pump and water source for live fire and tower training exercises,” Quick wrote.

Originally, officials were going to sell the truck online, but a bidding process could have left the department with less than the asking price of $15,000, according to Quick.

Fire Chief John Roeder knew of the school’s need for a new truck and made the arrangement with the school’s fire charter program director.

Roeder told Quick new recruits will use the scholarships for “fire training certification classes.”

Read Quick’s full story at Springfield News Sun here.

Do you want to sell a rig? Click HERE to find out how with SellFireTrucks.com.

Pierce Manufacturing is turning 100 and to celebrate, the company is holding an open house and a 9-11 Memorial Stair Climb.

The weekend of July 13 begins with a fire truck parade at 11 a.m. on American Drive between Prospect Avenue and Shady Lane in Appleton, Wisconsin. Fire departments from around the area will show off their Pierces, and firefighters can wear their uniforms and walk along.

The public is then invited to an open house at Pierce Headquarters, 2600 American Drive, until 4 p.m. Activities at the open house include tours of the plant and rides on fire trucks.

On July 14, Pierce’s 9-11 Stair Climb will be held at 9:30 a.m. at Lambeau Field to benefit the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.

“From modest beginnings in the Fox Valley in 1913, Pierce has grown to become one of the world’s largest and most respected manufacturers of fire and rescue apparatus; it wouldn’t be possible without strong support from this community,” Jim Johnson, Oshkosh Corporation executive vice president and president Fire & Emergency, said in a press release. “During our centennial year, we believe it’s fitting to share the celebration by opening Pierce’s doors to our friends and neighbors.”

More details about the open house and to register for the parade, click here and click here for more about the Stair Climb.

Do you want to sell a rig? Click HERE to find out how with SellFireTrucks.com.

Drafting Water from Beaver Pond from Limington Fire Department on Vimeo.

In the video above, members of the Limington, Maine Fire Department drafted using Beaver Pond.

According to the description with the video, firefighters had five objectives:

1 Clearing debris and allowing for water flow under adverse water conditions.

2 Working with apparatus partially submerged.

3 Personnel precautions in leech infested waters.

4 Maintaining control of hose streams in knee deep water.

5 Negotiating apparatus on submerged roads.

More of Limington FD’s videos are here.

Do you want to sell a rig? Click HERE to find out how with SellFireTrucks.com.

After riding through town on a flatbed, a Montana fire truck is safe inside a museum.

Bozeman’s first steam fire pumper, costing the department $4,000 when new, was transfered from Fire Station 3 to the Pioneer museum last week, the Bozeman Daily Chronicle’s Jodi Hausen reported.

The Silsby rig was featured in the Avant Courier on Jan. 31, 1889 and called: ““as pretty as a little red wagon and spouts water like a young elephant.

Only about 40 of the Silsby pumpers built in Seneca, N.Y., are known to still exist, said firefighter Jason Frounfelker. Many were melted down during World War I.

Pioneer Museum Director John Russell told Hausen the department bought the truck after an unattended stove caused a large fire.

Though no one was injured, the blaze severely damaged 17 buildings, including some with bullets stored in them. Many of the firefighters were Civil War veterans who hadn’t heard anything like that since the war.

The pumper will be in the museum for at least two years.

Read Hausen’s full story in the Chronicle here. And visit the Pioneer Museum’s website here.

Do you want to sell a rig? Click HERE to find out how with SellFireTrucks.com.

Investigators are trying to figure out how a Jackson, Mississippi fire truck landed in the woods last week.

From WAPT.com:

“Right now, we don’t have all the details. It’s sketchy at this moment,” [Deputy Chief R.D.] Simpson said. “Right now, we have a fire (truck) that, as you can see, is in the woods. We’re focused right now on removing it from the woods safely and then the investigation will start and we’ll know exactly how this incident happened.”

Trees had to be cut from around the truck before it could be towed out.

WAPT.com’s full story is here.

Do you want to sell a rig? Click HERE to find out how with SellFireTrucks.com.

Fox17Online went behind the scenes at Spencer Manufacturing to see how the South Haven, Michigan company makes its fire trucks.

Spencer makes both large and small fire trucks for several different applications. They start with a simple chassis from places like Ford, or perhaps Charlotte based Freightliner that makes rigs for 18 wheeler semi-tractor trailers. They then build an all aluminum frame or substructure and adhere it to the chassis in order to house the actual box portion of the fire truck we see.

Spencer has 16 employees, and one of its customers is the City of South Haven.

“We love the idea that we can spend our money locally,” Ronald Wise with South Haven Emergency Services told Fox17Online. “They’re not only a local comapny, but it’s a very quality company.”

Fox17Online’s full story is here. Spencer Manufacturing is here.

Do you want to sell a rig? Click HERE to find out how with SellFireTrucks.com.

A Michigan fire truck burned inside a fire station early Sunday morning.

Two Plymouth city police officers smelled smoke and investigated, WXYZ.com reported.

Officials say the fire station is an on-call station, so firefighters do not live in the station and had to be called in from home.

Paul Sincock, Plymouth city manager, told WXYZ.com firefighters were on the scene within five minutes of the call.

Destroyed in the blaze was the department’s Pierce mini-pumper, which was about a year old. The truck and the equipment was valued at over $500,000, Detroit Free Press reported.

“The cause and origin aren’t known yet,” said Plymouth City Manager Paul Sincock. “The Michigan State Police are conducting the investigation.”

WXYZ.com’s full story is here, and Detroit Free Press’ is here.

Do you want to sell a rig? Click HERE to find out how with SellFireTrucks.com.

One of only five 1927 American LaFrance aerial ladder trucks still in existence is on display in North Dakota.

It’s one of four rigs from the Minot Fire Department at the Dakota Territory Air Museum in Minot, MinotDailyNews.com’s Eloise Ogden reported.

That American LaFrance helped battle a fire that destroyed the Waverly Hotel in 1943.

A 1919 American LaFrance pumper which was in service for 49 years, a 1939 Model J pumper that cost $11,727.50 when it was first purchased, and a 1930 REO Speedwagon are also in the museum, Ogden wrote.

From MinotDailyNews.com:

The late Oliver “Dutch” Fredrich, a mechanic with the Minot Fire Department, and Filler were instrumental in placing the vehicles in the air museum where the vehicles can be kept and where people can see them.

“They were all driven in when they were brought in,” said Don Larson, air museum president.

Read MinotDailyNews.com’s full story and see more pictures here. Visit the Dakota Territory Air Museum’s website here.

Do you want to sell a rig? Click HERE to find out how with SellFireTrucks.com.

An Illinois department’s first motorized fire truck is back home.

The Tonica Fire Department put the 1931 Chevrolet went into service in 1940, NewsTrib.com reported. Officials believe the truck was converted, maybe from being used as a dump truck.

The rig could carry up to 100 gallons of water.

The Northern Illinois Valley Shrine Club used the truck, taken out of service in 1970, for parades from 1979 until 2012, according to NewsTrib.com.

Now back in Tonica, the rig is already making visitors happy, as 5-year-old Mason Kofoid, a patient at Shriners Hospital for Children, got to ring the bell on this antique, then get a ride on the newest truck in Tonica’s fleet.

Read more here on NewsTrib.com.

Do you want to sell a rig? Click HERE to find out how with SellFireTrucks.com.