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Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Found Roanoke Fire Trucks

Today I went out checking out some local junk yards. I had my camera on the second trip but not the first. What I found was interesting. There are several fire trucks her in Roanoke. For the most part they are from other jurisdictions, although some were definitely from right here in Roanoke City.

I saw trucks from North Carolina (C.F.D.) maybe Charlotte?, Henrico, Baltimore County, Newport ?, Asheville, and many others which I cannot remember. I will have to get out and take my picture next time to photograph all of them.


This is Engine 10, an Oren/International Pumper built in June 1961. This truck was R-903 just prior to being decommissioned. There have been 3 Engine 10's since this one. I will try to get a hold of a picture of this truck when it was in service. Guessing by the fact that it is a regular cab, this truck was used primarily when the Firefighters were riding tailboard, which means that the guys stood on the rear bumper and held on for dear life. Most departments in the U.S. do not allow their Firefighters to do this anymore due to the safety of the Firefighters. The Roanoke Fire-EMS Department does not allow its Firefighters to ride tailboard anymore.

The picture to the right shows what happened to Engine 13 in a rollover accident. As you can see this is the same type of truck as Engine 10 above, although it is an Oren/American LaFrance instead. Luckily in this accident none of the Firefighters were killed.
The picture on the left shows Marvin Coleman who was riding tailboard on Engine 13 when it wrecked. He was thrown from the truck. I am not sure exactly of his injuries, although I do know that he retired in the past couple of years after a long career as a Firefighter.



Ok let me get back on course, after all we were talking about old fire trucks which I found today.
The only other Roanoke City Fire Truck which I saw today was this old Walter's ARFF Truck. Imagine me finding a darn ARFF truck. Big shock huh. Apparently I am haunted even on my days off. Anyways this thing looks bomb proof. I do have an older picture of this one as I have posted the current next to the older picture. The truck is packed in next to a tractor trailer.

Here is the ARFF truck to the left. I am unsure of when this truck was in service exactly, but I am sure someone out there will fill me in. The picture below shows the Walter's ARFF truck in action. I will be posting more pictures in the future, as you all know I enjoy bringing these photo's to you.

Check out the comments below for updates on information.

7 comments:

Roanoke RnR said...

In case you're interested there's a great old shiny truck on Indiana street in Salem, right before the Valleydale plant at the shop there.

FireFleitz said...

I will have to check it out. Thanks for the information.

Anonymous said...

When E13 rolled over Marvin's arm was trapped under the rear of the truck. His arm was the only injury that I remember.
That ARRF truck was being used in 84 when I was hired. 1984 not 1884!
Kenny

Anonymous said...

Rhett, You are an assett to your Depts. History. You have an awesome page. Keep up the good work!

stay-safe

Anonymous said...

Where are some of these at? Do you happen to know of any old Troutville trucks?

Thanks,
Gavin

Anonymous said...

Where are some of these at? Do you happen to know of any old Troutville trucks?

Thanks,
Gavin
gmiller@tvfd.org

FireFleitz said...

Thank you to the comment about being an asset. I have to say that I have Travis Collins in my corner helping me out. I also have many interested guys who do not mind sitting down and spilling their guts about the history.

As far as the troutville trucks go, I do not know of any that I have seen. Some of these trucks I have shown are at Weddle on 13th ST. NE, or Granby.