| FIRE TRUCKS AT WAR |
| Class 135 |
| The Class 135 Crash Truck was the most widely used crash truck in the theater of operations. It was built on the Ford and International 4x2 and Chevrolet 4x4 chassis. The bodies were manufactured by General, American LaFrance, Central, Approved, Mack, Darley and Oren. It was similar in appearance to the Class 325 but was equipped with a front mounted high pressure pump. The truck held 300 gals. of water and 20 gals. of foam. Duel hose reels carrying 150 ft. of 3/4 in. high pressure hose were mounted below the platform type body. A third reel was mounted to the rear of the truck. Another version of the Class 135 appeared near the end of the war. It was equipped with an AmLaFr midship mounted pump. Foam and high pressure nozzles were supplied. The Class 135 carried hand tools for rescue work. Unofficial records and research indicate that about 1958 of the Class 135s were produced. 4x2 rigs 942, 4x4 rigs 1016 |
| 1943 Ford-Darley 4x2 |
| 1943 Chevrolet-Mack 4x4 |
1942 International-Central 4x2
| Data plate from a American LaFrance Class 135 AmLaFr Reg # 2037 Delivered 11- 43 |
W S Darley Company Photos
| W. S. Darley personnel testing one their Class 135 Crash Trucks. |
| Class 150 |
| Sterling-Cardox |
| Reo-Cardox |
| Mack-Cardox |
| Class 155 |
| 1944 Kenworth-Mack |
| Mack Model 19 prototype |
| 1944 Brockway-American LaFrance |
| The Class 150 Crash Truck was built on the Reo and Sterling, 6x6, 7 ton chassis. the body and fire fighting equipment was manufactured by the Cardox Corp. Equipped with 6,000 pounds of CO2 and 300 gallons of foam premix it could discharge both agents individually or in combination. The vehicle was equipped with an hydraulic overhead boom and front grill nozzles. (CO2 and foam) Nozzle operations were controlled from within the cab through hydraulic joysticks. The ground sweep bumper also contained CO2 and foam nozzles. There were four CO2 hand lines on the truck, two located on large hose reels each holding 100 feet of 1 in high pressure hose and two 100 foot 5/8 in lines coiled in a hose bed located over the rear wheels. These two lines were attached to 5 foot long piercing nozzles that could be jabbed into the aircraft. Foam was discharged by pressurizing the foam tank with CO2. Foam nozzles were located on the boom, front grill and ground sweep bumper. Two 100 foot 1 in foam lines were also coiled in a hose bed located over the rear wheels. An early version of the Class 150 was built by Cardox on the Mack, NM, 6x6, 71/2 ton chassis. |
| Class 140 |
| With the development of larger and larger aircraft necessitating the carrying of greater quanties of gasoline and oil, it was found that the Class 125 and Class 135 crash trucks were totally inadequate to cope with fires involving these larger aircraft. Information received from the Theater of Operations substantiated these findings. In addition to their limited extinguishing capacity, some were mounted on 1 1/2 ton, 4x2 commercial chassis, while others were mounted on 1 1/2 ton, 4x4 Army chassis. Off road mobility of those trucks had not proved satisfactory. In view of the above limitations, the COE, in early 1944 started to plan the development of a new truck, to be known as the Class 140, mounted on a 2 1/2 ton, 6x6 standard Army chassis. It would be equipped with a 650-700 gallon water tank, two turret nozzles, and three hose lines, each 100 feet in length. Two of the hose lines would be suitable for use with high pressure nozzles, and the other would be used for foam application. Auxiliary items such as fire axes, ladders, buckets, gauges, controls, alarms, lights, and miscellaneous extinguishers of the type and size consistent with a crash vehicle would be carried. The fire pump would be capable of supplying 300 gallons per minute at 600 pounds per square inch. It was hoped that the new vehicle would replace the Class 125 and Class 135, and if found adequate, may also eplace the Class 155. By June, 1944, the COE had scrapped the project sighting a new crash truck should also be capable of applying large quantities of CO2 to be effective. |
| The Corps of Engineers started planning in 1943 and by June a protype Class 155 built by Mack Trucks, Inc. on the Mack Model L, Type 19, 4x2 chassis had been constructed. The truck was equipped with a midship mounted pump, carried 1000 gallons of water, with two turrets nozzles mounted atop the body. During July, the protype traveled to Dow Field, ME, LaGuardia Field, NY and Washington National Airport in DC, where it was demonstrated to military personnel. During testing it was discovered the truck truck did not perform well as it lacked in off-road operations and the midship mounted pump prevented pump and roll operations. By September 1943 the Corps of Engineers had redsigned the Class 155 and contracts were awarded for the contruction of the vehicle on the Kenworth, 6 ton, 6x6, M-1 wrecker chassis and the Brockway, 6 ton, 6x6, Model B 666, bridge erecting chassis. Other Brockway chassis was used as well. Mack Trucks built bodies on both the Kenworth and Brockway chassis, these trucks were equiped with a Hale Model ZEY, 325 gpm, 600 psi high pressure pump, powered by a Continental 6-cylindeer motor. American LaFrance constructed bodies on the Brockway chassis and they were equipped with a American LaFrance 4 stage high pressure pump powered by the American LaFrance 12-cylinder motor. All versions of the Class 155 were equipped with a 1000 gallon water tank and a pair of manually operated high pressure turrets mounted atop the vehicle. Pressure control valves for the turrets were located at the dirver's seat and on the deck at the forward turret position. The turret nozzles could be changed from straight stream to fog by moving a small lever near the tip of the pipe. Two 100 foot lengths of high pressure, 3/4 in. hose were carried in hose trays located over the rear wheels and were equipped with hand held fog nozzles. A third 100 ft line was carried in a open compartment in the body of the truck behind the cab. The 155 was also equipped with various firefighting tools including, 16 ft A-frame folding ladder, Army crash tool kit, axe, pike pole, fog applicatoors, fire extinguishers and 100 ft rope with grapnel hook. Postwar, the trucks were modified for foam operation by the addition of a foam tank, mounted atop the vehicle between the turrets and a foam proportioning device. Fog/foam nozzles were added to the turrets and ground sweep nozzles were attached to the front bumpers. While the Class 155 served well at stateside Army airfields during the war, Army records do not reflect any serving overseas until after the war. |
1944 Brockway-Mack
| 1944 Brockway-Mack in USAF service at Otis AFB Postwar foam tank & faom nozzles on turrets USAF 507333 Type O-5 |
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