Sunday, October 20, 2013

Scot trucks Part 4 of 3 - fire apparatus chassis

When I started my little retrospective on Scot trucks I thought I would just include fire apparatus as part of the C1 and C2 tilt cab section. It then occurred to me that in fact some of the fire apparatus chassis were not tilt cabs, and were distinct enough for their own coverage. Therefore this is Part 4 of 3.

According to published accounts about 25% of Scot's production went to fire apparatus chassis. The chassis were termed C1FD and were based on the C1 tilt cab. Most Canadian fire apparatus manufacturers at the time used a few Scots for pumpers, tankers and aerials in single or tandem drive versions. Thibault and Pierrevile used a few and King used about 25 Scot chassis.

Most of the fire apparatus used an extended cab with rear facing jump seats, and these cabs usually did not tilt.
1. An unpainted chassis for Thibault next to the ever popular Ford C series so-called Budd cab at a 1979 fire chiefs' convention in Halifax. The unit was still in primer and would be painted by Thibault.

2. The rear facing jump seats shared space with an engine box on this tandem chassis. It may have become the 100ft aerial delivered to Scarborough in 1980.

3. Competitor Pierreville had this recently delivered unit on display at the same show in 1979. It operated for the town of Bedford, NS. (Bedford amalgamated with Halifax in 1999).


4. When the Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency Services was formed in 1999, it brought the former Bedford No.3 unit into Halifax. 



5. Cole Harbour-Westphal, another suburban area of Halifax county (which became part of the Halifax Regional Municipality in 1999) ran this Scot-King. It was a 1977, 1050 gpm -500 gal pumper. It was one of the few Scot-King pumpers sold in Atlantic Canada. 1982 photo

6. Halifax F.D had this 1976 Scot-Thibault on their roster in 1984, working out of the Rockingham fire station. It was sold in 1998 to Milford, NS.

7. Toronto Fire Department's Station 10 housed this Scot with Pierreville 30m aerial in 1987.

6. The HMC Dockyard Fire Department operated this mid-mount Scot-Thibault 840/500 with 65 foot aerial in 1980. It was delivered in 1978 with yellow paint.

7. Halifax Fire Department had one Scot-King "Fire King" 85 foot snorkel truck. It was delivered with yellow paint in 1974, and was the first King apparatus built on a Scot chassis. 1981 photo

8. Later painted red, the unit was in service in 1994.

9. The snorkel was rear mounted over the tandem axles, and the control panel was rear mounted too.

10. The truck was fitted with rear outrigger legs. It was based at Station 2, West Street, the only fire hall in Halifax long enough to accommodate it.Its suspension appears to be slightly lower than some other Scots, and it appears to be a tilt cab.

11. Onslow-Belmont Fire Brigade in Nova Scotia used this Scot-Thibault 1050/1500 pumper/ tanker. Note the bright work around the rear wheels and the higher suspension.  Sources indicate that this rig was built in 1977 on a former dump truck chassis.1986 photo

12. This Pierreville 30m aerial on a long wheelbase Scot chassis had been traded in by 1997. Note the exposed outriggers.

13. By 2000 this tandem axle pumper/tanker had been traded in and its previous operators were illegible. The large front bumper appears to be a Pierreville addition. Like many Scots it had a removable protection plate over the front grille which had to be removed to tilt the cab.

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9 comments:

  1. Excellent article. Couple of comments. I'm pretty sure that the DND Scot at CFB Halifax must have been delivered in red. There's a 1990's era photo at http://www.firetruckarchive.ca/photos/thibault/T78109.html that shows it in yellow - seems unlikely that it was delivered yellow, painted red and repainted yellow. DND typically ran yellow trucks from the mid-70s on, so I'm surprised to see this in red at all.

    The tandem tanker may have come from Debert. The white doors are a feature unique to that department.

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    1. The last picture is a former Debert Fire Brigade truck. The had two. A tandem pumper/tanker and a single axle pumper.

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    2. Sir, you are absolutely correct about the one with the white doors it is a Debert truck.

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  2. If I may add to the excellent article, CDN Research and Developement used the Scot chassis as the base for a number of different airport crash trucks with a total of 11 CFR delivered. The First 4 went to Iran, a minimum of one went to Venezuela, 4 went to Iraq and the last two were originally destined for Iran but were acquired by Transport Canada and served at Vancouver and Grande Prairie airports. Would anyone happen to have photos or information about the Scot chassis refinery fire trucks delivered to Mexico. Thanks CDNARFF

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  3. What do they do with the parts for older trucks like these? Surely they don't go to scrap yards. It's cool to think that they can be recycled. At the same time, I'm glad parts for more average trucks are easier to come by! Thiago | http://www.godfreybrake.com/delivery-route-schedules/

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  4. Psst!

    On 30 June 2014 there was a Scot fire truck parked behind the New Glasgow fire station. Looks like it's there as a project. I'll get a picture next trip.

    - Dubya

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  5. Photo Number 13 is the old pumper/tanker from Debert Fire Brigade, I miss those old scot trucks��

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  6. Actually, picture 13 originally belonged to Kent homes in Debert, so that is likely why it had such a large bumper

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  7. once upon a time, picture number 13 was actually a single axle!

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