bulldogboy

Not only an "R" model tanker but also a big Autocar (Volvo !!!!) at the scene. If you like old in service fire equipment come to northern New England. While many small departments are now buying custom apparatus there are still lots of trucks more than 20 years old still in service. bulldogboy

That's a terrible story. Hopefully, other departments pitch in and help get them back on their feet soon. It's always a shame when a fire station burns down due to a lack of an alarm system or sprinklers. Those should not be luxury items but with many departments short on cash they often get left out. Of course, in this case all the alarm systems and sprinkler systems in the world wouldn't have helped. bulldogboy

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band!! Clarence Clemons, the greatest sax player ever, R.I.P. bulldogboy P.S. other dog Talking Heads were right up there on my list.

Hose 4 sure has had an exciting life since it left Nashua. bulldogboy

This was Nashua, NH Hose 4, later renumbered Engine 4. It was sold to a private collector in the 1970s. It later ended up with the Londonderry, NH Fire Department. Londonderry rehabbed it for a parade vehicle but I don't think that they kept it for very long. I saw it on E-bay a few years ago; it was owned by a collector in Barre, MA. I hope that it finds a good home. bulldogboy

I'm giving my age away by referring to the Durham-UNH Fire Department. Several years ago they dropped the UNH name but I'm not sure how the funding situation is being handled by the town and the university. I remember that old fire station; the Mack tractor-trailer was parked outside; no room in the station I guess. Today, Durham still runs a 1985 Mack "R"/3D 350/1500 tanker, Engine 3. I think that Appleyard's was based in Methuen, MA but not 100% sure about that. bulldogboy

I passed through the Woodstock/Bridgewater area on Route 4 in December and there was still damage along the road. It was amazing how much damage Hurricane Irene inflicted on Vermont; there were towns completely cut off and supplies had to be airlifted in by NH National Guard helicopters. bulldogboy

I remember when this truck was in service with the Durham-UNH Fire Department. Durham-UNH also had a tractor-trailer tank truck with a "B" model tractor. That's a shame that such a beautiful truck was cut up. bulldogboy

I saw R608F10-1015 sitting in a junkyard in Gill, MA. in September, 2011. It was still lettered for Indian Ford Fire Department. bulldogboy

Hopefully, you and your friend can get the 1925 "AB" to look as sharp as your "A". Looks great, congratulations. bulldogboy

Not to nitpick but the first rule in firefighting is rescue, then exposures, confinement, extinguishment, overhaul, with ventilation and salvage thrown in for good measure (this is why firefighting is so labor intensive). But in this case there was no rescue so go for the exposures. bulldogboy

I was in the fire service over 30 years and never chocked a burning vehicle, either. Makes sense but back in the "L" and "B" model days it was never mentioned; just put the fire out with the booster line (no one bothered to mask-up either, just a run of the mill car fire). bulldogboy

The Mack "MB" was developed in the 1960s as a city delivery truck. It was available as both a straight truck and a tractor. Around 1972 or 73 Mack introduced a fire apparatus version of the "MB"; it definitely was an economy model especially when compared to the "CF". For many small departments the "MB" was their first "custom" apparatus. Both the "MB" and the "R" model fire trucks had bodies built by Howe and other manufacturers (Thibault, Hamerly, etc.). During the 1970s fire apparatus from many manufacturers had serious rust problems. I saw trucks from Mack, ALF, and Ward LaFrance and all had to have new bodies installed at some point. My department had "CF"s and "MB"s and while the "MB"s were reliable their quality could not compare to the "CF"s. As a truck for a collector I would think that an "MB" in good condition would be fine. bulldogboy

In my area of New Hampshire back in the '70s there were several fire departments that had TT tankers pulled by Mack tractors; several of them had "U" models if I remember correctly. These units were used tractors and trailers that were purchased cheaply and used until the departments could afford new tankers. All have been replaced by straight trucks. The TT units were not manuverable on narrow country roads, clogged up the tanker shuttle, and departments did not have a lot of licensed TT drivers. Unfortunately, I have not seen any pictures of these trucks even on the department websites. The problem with converted milk tankers is that their tanks are not baffled. This causes the water to slosh around in the tank which may lead to loss of control. Modern fire tankers have baffled tanks. As long as drivers are aware of the unbaffled tank and drive accordingly the response should be okay. bulldogboy

Still on St. Maarten. The only thing I do worse than photography is trying to post pictures online. Close your eyes and think about what white Mack "R"s and "Granites" look like and there's your photos. It was a vacation; took a walk on Orient Beach!! bulldogboy

Joe: Thanks for posting pictures of your apparatus. The Mack looks good; in fact, all the trucks look well maintained. Why does the '67 Ford have chains on; was the weather forecast calling for snow? Hope that you find a chassis for your stainless steel tank, a nice Mack "R" or "CH" model would look good. bulldogboy

I was on the island of St. Maarten a few weeks ago. For a small island there were quite a few Mack trucks; "R", "CH", "DM", and" Granite" models. They were mostly tractors and dump trucks. No Mack fire trucks but the French side, St. Martin, had several fire trucks built on Renault chassis. bulldogboy

As far as I know there is no "law" against riding the tailboard of a fire truck. However, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), who writes standards on everything from fire apparatus to restaurant range hood extinguishing systems, has a standard that requires a seated, belted, enclosed position for every person riding on that apparatus. Technically, these standards are not laws but, in reality, they have the force of law. If someone is injured or killed while riding the back step a sharp lawyer will point out to a jury that these standards are written by fire service personnel (I know not all of them are; doesn't matter) for the protection of fire service personnel and to ignore them is opening yourself up to a major lawsuit. There was a case many years ago in Massachusetts where a firefighter was severely injured when he fell from a moving engine while he was standing in the open jumpseat area. The truck manufacturer claimed that the engine met all NFPA standards for the time it was built but the jury rejected that argument and awarded for the plaintiff. Fire departments ignore NFPA standards at their own risk. I started my fire service career riding the back step and driving semi-cab Mack fire apparatus. There was nothing more thrilling than responding through downtown while hanging on the rear bar for dear life. I am glad that I had the opportunity to do so but we cannot go back in history; today's legal environment will not allow it. bulldogboy

Joe: Good idea having the local vocational school do the body work. I've seen that done on brush trucks. Good training for the students and a good deal for the department. bulldogboy

On page 24 of Harvey Eckart's book, "Mack Fire Apparatus, A Pictorial History" there is a picture of a 1925 Mack "AB" pumper taken in 1974 in Cross Anchor, SC. It looks just like your truck right down to the CD emblems on the cowl. This must be the same truck. bulldogboy

Kind of reminds me of the Bob Seger song, "Fire Lake"; you know "Joe's run off to Fire Lake". Hope that you don't need to burn it, I like old Ford fire trucks. bulldogboy

The Superpumper was rated at 8800 GPM at 350 PSI or 4400 GPM at 700 PSI. However, in actuality the Superpumper was limited by the size of the water mains supplying it. The monitors (water cannons) on the satellites were rated at 4000 GPM so I would guess that the Tender monitor would be similar. There is a book, "The F.D.N.Y. Super Pumper System" by John A. Calderone that gives an in depth story of the Super Pumper. I have heard that this book is in print again. Like the rest of us the Superpumper got old and required a lot of maintenance. In practice the FDNY found that the satellites did the bulk of the work, were more manuverable, and more effective. The satellites live on as a legacy of the Super Pumper system. Too bad the pumper and tender did not end up in the FDNY museum. bulldogboy

Back in my Air National Guard firefighting days (early '70s,) protein foam was made from fish guts or other similar protein bases. By the mid - 70s protein foam was replaced by a synthetic foam called AFFF, aqueous film forming foam. One of the problems at Daytona was the fact that the truck was on a high bank causing a running fuel fire as the burning fuel rolled down the embankment. AFFF is designed to cover burning fuel to break the chain reaction and exclude oxygen from the fire. When the fuel is running the job is much more difficult. AFFF is mixed a a rate of 3% (or sometimes 6%) to 100 gallons of water. First arriving firefighters had Ford F-350 pickups equipped with dry chemical systems. They did a great job controlling the fire until the larger fire engines could arrive with more extinguishing agents. bulldogboy

Joe: I hope that your area escaped the damage done by all those tornadoes. Looks like Indiana and Kentucky were hit pretty hard. bulldogboy

Back in the late 1980s I used to go to Hillsborough, NH every so often and I would always swing by Dick Kemp's yard to look at his truck collection. He had a lot of stuff, some of it pretty nice but some of it was in rough shape. Hope all his old Macks found a good home. Was that an "AP" model? I thought the six cylinder models were "AP"s or was that just the fire engine models? bulldogboy