America's Fire Engine: The American-LaFrance 700 Series, 1947-1959

About the Book

As World War II drew to a close, America's premier fire apparatus builder--the American-LaFrance Foamite Corp. of Elmira, N.Y.--bet the company's future on its radical new cab-ahead-of-engine 700 Series fire engines. In a spectacular gamble to capture the superheated postwar market, all of the company's existing products were discontinued and its customers were essentially told to "take it or leave it." This bold gamble paid off and 700 Series rigs soon filled firehouses across the nation, sweeping aside all competitors and ultimately defining the breakthrough 700 as "America's Fire Engine."

This is the first comprehensive history of the game-changing 700. Individual chapters detail not only each of the eight major vehicle types but also the origins, design controversies, manufacturing, and marketing of the 700 and short-lived transitional 800 Series. The book includes a meticulously researched registry of every 700/800 series apparatus delivered, supported by many interpretive tables detailing production, specifications and major fire department fleets.

Table of Contents:
Table of Contents

Acknowledgments delete deletevi
Delivery Lists, Production Tables and 700 and 800 Series Deliveries delete deleteviii
Preface delete
Chapter  1—Prologue
Chapter  2—Genesis: Bringing the 700 Series to Market
Chapter  3—Pumpers
Chapter  4—Son of 700: The ­Ill-Fated 800 Series
Chapter  5—Industrial Foamite Airfoam Pumpers
Chapter  6—Airport ­Crash-Fire-Rescue Pumpers
Chapter  7—High Ambitions: The ­American-LaFrance Steel Aerial Ladder
Chapter  8—­Straight-Frame Aerial Ladders
Chapter  9—­Tractor-Drawn Aerial Ladders
Chapter 10—Quads and City Service Ladder Trucks
Between pages 170 and 171 are 16 color plates containing 34 photographs
Chapter 11—Squads and Other Specials
Chapter 12—Engines and Pumps
Chapter 13—Elmira’s Canadian Cousins
Chapter 14—Major Fleets: The Best Customers
Chapter 15—Home of the 700: The Elmira Factory
Chapter 16—Promoting the Product: 700 Series Advertising and Sales Brochures
Chapter 17—700 Series Model Designations
Chapter 18—The Details: The 700 Series Spotter’s Guide
Chapter 19—America’s Fire Engine: How the 700 Series Affected Our Culture
Chapter 20—Epilogue
Chapter 21—By the Numbers: Synopsis of Production
Chapter 22—Registry of Deliveries
Bibliography delete
Index delete


About the Author :
An internationally known fire apparatus historian, Walter M.P. McCall has written 22 automotive history books--12 of them on fire apparatus. His two encyclopedias on the subject are considered the “bible” of the field. He has also written numerous articles and features for national and regional fire apparatus and emergency vehicle hobby publications. He lives in Windsor, Ontario. Growing up a short distance from the Toronto Fire Department’s Yorkville Avenue station made Alan M. Craig an early fan of the American-LaFrance 700 Series and launched a half century of fire apparatus photography and his 35-year career in emergency services. As a fire service historian, he has spent four decades documenting not only American-LaFrance but also the Toronto Fire Department’s motorized fire apparatus, and the Department’s Fire Alarm Telegraph system. He lives in Palm Springs, California.

Review :
“Any enthusiast will enjoy searching for familiar cities and towns in the register, and owners will enjoy finding their engine’s roots in the registry.”—Old Cars Weekly “America's Fire Engine is the best new book about fire apparatus to be published in a long time. ... The book is a masterpiece about a masterpiece. ... With [this book], Walt McCall and Alan M. Craig have written the definitive history of the most important and iconic fire engine—the American-LaFrance 700 Series.”—Enjine-Enjine, the official journal of SPAAMFAA, the Society for the Preservation and Appreciation of Motor Apparatus in America “Comprehensive…extensive details”—FAJ; “An informatively and profusely illustrated history that is highly recommended as a unique and invaluable addition to personal, community, and academic library, American Automotive History collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.”—Midwest Book Review