| 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
Front view Chevrolet 4x4
| 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 |
| The Class 155 Crash Truck was built on the Kenworth and Brockway 6 ton, 6x6 chassis. The bodies were manufactured by Mack and American LaFrance. The vehicles constructed by Mack were equipped with a Hale 325 gpm., 600 psi. pump which was powered by a Continental engine. The American LaFrance trucks were supplied with their own 4 stage, 250 gpm. pump, powered by a 12 cyl. AmLaFr motor. The pump and their power plants were mounted at the rear of the vehicle. The pump supplied water and foam to 2 turret guns mounted atop the rig and the water tank held 1000 gals. Two, 100 ft, 3/4 in. handlines were carried in open bins on either side of the rig and a third was stored in a open body compartment. High pressure fog nozzles were attached to each line. Portable fire extinguishers, ladders and numberous hand tools for rescue work were also carried. A early version of the Class 155 was mounted on the Mack, NM, 6 ton, 6x6 chassis. |
| 1944 Kenworth-Mack |
| Early Class 155 on the Mack NM chassis |
| 1944 Brockway-American LaFrance |
| Comments and Suggestions Are Always Welcomed milfireguy@comcast.net |
| 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. |
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