1957 Ford / American 750 pumper

The 1957 Ford / American pictured above was purchased in 1957 and added to the fire department's fire apparatus fleet. This apparatus responded as the hose wagon to the Mack pumper and also responded as the first-due engine on township fires. It also served as the response engine on all other small fires such as vehicle fires and service calls so it saw a considerable amount of use for the department. It was equipped with a Barton American multi-stage duplex pump (whew!) and was a rather difficult pump to master if you did not train with it. The standard fire department joke was that the only people who knew how to run it properly were the engineers who designed it!

It was a very easy truck to drive and maneuver and was a delight to work off of when firefighters were allowed to ride the tailboard to responses, it was however a refrigerator on Interstate highway runs if the officer would not allow you in the cab! This truck was sold to a fire department in Arkansas in the late 1970's.