Seasons and Discoveries

It's been ages since I've posted, and I apologize.

There's been a lot of change in our family, which I won't drag you through, but it has led to some shifting priorities.

Engine 17 has been moved to a new facility and is now in Tacoma again, and is stored indoors, which is fantastic.  But due to all of the aforementioned events, I have not had a chance to do really any work on her in years.  But she made the 2.5 hour run up to Tacoma no problem, she just runs like a champ!

Backstory.... back in 2015 I became a map editor for the mobile GPS app Waze, mainly to improve the map in my old fire district.  All editors are volunteers, but there is a progressive structure and hierarchy, and I've advanced (not always willingly) to the role of Washington State Co-Manager as of last fall.

In this role, after cleaning up the counties near where I live, I've been working to extensively review and clean up Pierce County since late last summer, and I'll probably be at it for over a year yet in my spare time, but as part of this process I ran across the Tacoma Fire Garage in the course of my work, and while looking at the aerial imagery there, something.... caught my eye.

Well now..... what's this?

I know Tacoma still owns a couple of older pieces, and have heard they have one of the 1970 sisters as well, though I've never seen it.  But here's an obviously aged rig by virtue of the color fade, with a distinctive single emergency light on top.  Could it be?  Let's check Google Earth.

Is that what I think it is?

There, on the left, is what I am pretty sure is one of the sisters.  Tacoma did own other similar ALF pumpers over the years, I think there were four 1964 Type 900s, and there were two 1976 Century's with Squrts on them, along with four ALF aerials.  But I don't remember ever seeing the 1964 rigs after in the 80's.  Tacoma has assumed fire protection for Fife and Fircrest in the intervening years, and assumed ownership of their rigs.  I don't think Fircrest had an ALF.  I don't know what Fife had. Fircrest was in 1995, and I think Fife was later, late enough that I don't think Tacoma would have taken a rig of that vintage in the process, let alone kept it all this time.  Thus, there's just not too many other options for what this could be.

That's a strong resemblance

As an aside, the ghost image on the right here above was caused by another rig being parked next to the ALF during some of the aerial imagery side-view camera passes but gone on others, so when the imagery was magically melded together you ended up with a ghost pumper.

Anyway, here she is, whatever it is.  It doesn't quite look 100% right, the bright coloring on the side towards the rear, but the cab configuration, the ladder rack (I'm told hydraulic ladder racks in 1970 were very rare), and even what looks like the old company number placard holder on the nose all looks spot on.  This imagery is less than a year old, so maybe this rig is just there all the time.

I'm hoping to get up to Tacoma soon despite the stay-at-home orders (don't worry I won't visit anyone!) to see if I can get some confirmation.

In the meantime, if you'd like to tour the Tacoma Fire Garage through Google Earth and check it out for yourself, just click here.

Interesting stuff.

Stay safe and healthy out there.

TFD's Last Sister Rig

I received a surprise Facebook Message a few days ago.  It was from a man who will remain nameless for now (not that he is in hiding, but I don't have permission to share his name at the moment) who confirmed for me that Tacoma Fire does in fact still own one of the original eight 1970 American LaFrance pumpers from Engine 17's batch.

This revelation is cause enough for me to come back here to the blog after nearly two years for this update.

About a year and a half ago we had to move from our place in the country, as the Fire District decided to close the resident satellite station we had been living in while working for them since 2008.  It was a good long run that benefited us as well as the District, but leadership changed and the new electeds decided to go in a different direction.  Subsequent to them closing the station down, I retired from my 22 year fire career.  Still work full time at the power company, and am now the Director for a home school community in Vancouver.

The country abode was an ideal place to store E17 under cover, but that option went away.  Money is tight for us, and presently I am sad to say that E17 is stored outside in the weather.  Plans are afoot to move her back to Tacoma where a family member might be able to store her inside, but we're not sure when that might come to pass.

I have to admit, I've been sad to not be able to make any meaningful progress on her, and have entertained the thought of putting her up for sale or even giving her away if the right buyer faithful to her heritage came forward.  Not presently actively looking to rehome her, but if you are that right person or know who is, drop me a line.

In the meantime, I am hoping to get a chance to see Tacoma's last 1970 ALF pumper and maybe get some pictures.  Finding out one still exists and has not been extensively modified or abused by secondary owners is a godsend, this means that when there are questions about original equipment, this last rig will be a very reliable model to consult most of the time!  Word is, a bunch of guys are getting an effort together to start restoration on the last rig, so even though we aren't in a position to work on E17 meaningfully right now, we hopefully will be able to soon start reporting on the progress of this other restoration.  Stay tuned!

Dear old Engine 8 found

The entire tale of this blog starts with me growing up by Tacoma Station #8, and the special place in my heart for the 1970 American LaFrance 900 assigned there during my childhood.  The direct result of that, as well as other serendipitous events, was my coming into possession of Engine 17, one of the identical siblings of dear old Engine 8.

Engine 8 as I knew her was Tacoma Fire Shop #43, and she started her career in 1970 as Engine 5 at Station #5 in the Hilltop neighborhood.

Shop #43's first assignment at Hilltop Station #5
Photo: Richard Schneider via Thorsten Umbach

Just a few years later, Fire Station #4 near where the Tacoma Dome is today was permanently closed, and Fire Station #5 was renamed as #4.  Engine 4 kept its number and moved to the Hilltop station, and Shop #43 was reassigned to Fire Station #8.  Here is the only picture I have of Shop #43 at Station #8, and below is a much later picture of Station #8 as she appears today in retirement (a new Station #8 opened in 2003).

Shop #43 at Station #8 with my niece, circa ~1984
Photo: Mine

Historic Station #8 today
Photo: www.tacomadailyindex.com

Shop #43 was replaced in 1987 and moved to reserve status.  I would see her occasionally around town even when she was placarded with a different unit number, because no one ever painted over the large "8" on the rear center compartment door.  But it didn't last long.  Seems that all of the E17 sisters were sold off and gone from Tacoma by 1990 or so.

Where Shop #43 went after Tacoma sold her I don't know.  She may have gone on to serve another agency like Engine 17 did.  At this point all I know for sure is that at some point the sandwich shop Firehouse Subs obtained Shop #43 and repainted her to their signature Dalmation scheme for work down in Florida.  I have no idea how she got to Florida, if she was already there when they bought her, or they transported her there from somewhere else.  I got this picture from company reps back in 2010 - but at that point I did not know it was #43, I only knew that their rig was one of the E17 sisters.

Shop #43 as a marketing tool for Firehouse Subs, circa 2010
Photo: Mike Kelly, Firehouse Subs

This week I reached out to the SPAAMFAA community on Facebook to try to track down any of the other remaining E17 sisters.  The only other hint I have for any of them is one that was photographed around 2000 in Seattle, which brings us up to accounting for three of the eight sisters.  And then I started trolling the Internet for anything new since the last time I looked years ago.  What I came up with was a batch of photos of the Firehouse Subs engine, one of which was a clear shot of the rear compartments, .... and there in plain sight was my answer to which one she was.

Shop #43 looking pretty rough, January of 2013
Photo: Flickr user VinceFL

There she is, dear old Engine 8.  Now we know where she went.

Have to admit, the deterioration in condition from 2010 to 2013 is significant: Peeling red stripes, quite a bit of rust, flat tire (!).... kind of hard to look at.  Here are some more pictures from 'VinceFL' with some finishing effects applied to the images.

Yesterday I sent an email to the contacts I made with Firehouse Subs back in 2010 to see if they still have Shop #43, and if so how she is doing and where she is.  Not sure what I think I want to do with that info if she is still around.  She would be a much bigger project now than in 2010, and I haven't been able to make any realistic headway on the fire engine I already have!  But it would be nice to know.  Fingers crossed that she still has a future and isn't already gone.  Will post more when I know.

Sisters of Engine 17

Thanks to the community at FirePics.net, I have been able to secure photos of two of Engine 17's identical Tacoma sisters, and can finally share closer detailed examples of what she looked like before being painted white over lime green. However, in both cases, the pictures were taken late, so the period touches such as hand-lettered numbers and doors are long gone.

First we have a unit placarded as Engine 7, but if you look at the lower rear compartment you can see where the large decal "16" was either painted over or removed. Engine 7, as I recall, had one of the sisters at the same time Engine 16 did, and they were both replaced close together, in 1989, I think. If I had to guess, extending myself way into conjectureland, this photo is from around 1990, after both rigs had been replaced, and for whatever reason the new E7 was out for maintenance and old E16 was filling in as a reserve rig. There is evidence of body or paint damage, as the AO's compartment and left rear fender are a darker shade of red, as is the nose between the skirt and windshield. This pic does show, however, the Stang cannon and alternating red lights above the windshield that have disappeared from Engine 17. No idea where this rig is today, or if she still exists.

Photo Credit: "Big Dave"

Second is another of the sisters, but I have no idea which one she ever was. The owner of this photo indicated that the picture was taken around 2000, in Seattle. So, ten years ago, one of the sisters was accounted for there. What caught my eye quickly was that the hand-painted yellow trim lines are still on the rear compartment doors, when as far as I knew they had been removed from all the rigs when decals went into vogue. The Stang cannon is gone, the crosslays are empty, the Q2B is gone and replaced with something else. The silver paint over the rear wheel is not original, and the front bumper is pushed up slightly. The pump panel, however, has been "over-restored" with a sheet metal backing that is not original, and as far as I know was never done on one of these sisters while in Tacoma. I wish I knew the disposition of this engine.

Photos Credit: "Brian Birmingham"

Last up is an unrelated treat that also came up at FirePics. This is the 1976 American LaFrance Century Telesqurt that replaced my Engine 17 in 1976, and is the 17 that I remember from my childhood. Since this engine was #17 and bought in 1976 ("17, 76"), she was given distinctive bicentennial markings that included the blue stars on the roof and Squrt, and a "17" on the back of the Squrt circled with blue stars. I love the blue-painted electronic siren on the roof, I had forgotten that touch, and I had also forgotten (or never noticed before) that this engine also had yellow trim lines on her compartment doors like the 1970 batch. If you recall my interpretation of Station 17 history earlier in the blog, you'll remember that Truck 5 was supposed to have been started up there, but never happened. In 1976, this engine, along with Engine 11 (the other side of south Tacoma), were given Telesqurts, and I can only surmise that this was a compromise for never getting Truck 5 in service. No idea where this rig went after her Tacoma service.

Photo Credit: "Big Dave"

With the arrival of the new 17, my Engine 17 was reassigned for the first time, and would respond as Engine 9 for the next four years until being replaced by a Mack CF (one of Tacoma's first lime-yellow apparatus), and then would move to Station 10 for the next seven years to wrap up her Tacoma front-line career.

Bits and pieces...... bits and pieces.