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 All have been replaced by straight trucks.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

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

Joe: You guys are getting your money's worth out of the Mack! I read about the other two fires online on the "Harlan Daily Enterprise" website. Nice save on the church. bulldogboy

Pretty spectacular crash; nice work by the safety crews. That had to be a shock for the jet dryer driver. At least Juan Pablo had all the safety gear on board, the truck driver probably only had a seat belt. Good job by my man, Matt Kenseth!! bulldogboy

Hinsdale, MA Fire Department has a nice collection of Mack "MC" and "R" model fire trucks. bulldogboy

Wow, that was quite a baptism by fire. Sounds like the Mack performed well but those of us who have used Mack fire apparatus knew that it would. Good job by your department and mutual aid departments. bulldogboy

That has happened in my area, usually with ladder trucks. One community will sell a neighboring department an old ladder truck for $1.00 or something like that. This way the new department gets a ladder truck and the selling department gets a mutual aid ladder. Works out well for both. bulldogboy

Joe: Please post some pictures of your Mack when you have it lettered for your department. I like Ford fire trucks also so if you could post a picture of your Ford that would be great. Thanks. bulldogboy

Joe: I saw your Mack engine on the Evarts, Ky. website. Do they still have the other "CF", Engine 2? Good luck with your new engine. Always glad to see a Mack fire truck still in service. bulldogboy

Pitt Ohio Express must be one of the only trucking companies that uses Ford F-750 straight trucks. bulldooy

There is a picture of the collector owned Superpumper in Harvey Eckart's book, "Mack Fire Trucks 1911 - 2005", page 121. The owner hauls it to shows with an "RW" model tractor. I have heard that he still owns the "F" model tractor. Also heard that the tender is in CA. I would have loved to see the Superpumper in action. bulldogboy

Katie: What are you replacing it with? bulldogboy

Firemack: Way back when, I mentioned to you that I had a "Fire Engineering" magazine from March, 1973 that had an advertisement listing Radnor's "B75" pumper for sale. You asked me to scan a picture to you. I now have a scanner so if you still want a copy I can try scanning it to you. Do you have an e-mail address or should I send it to you via Radnor's e-mail? bulldogboy