"The fire apparatus of today evolved from horse-drawn vehicles which had been developed to perform specialized fire-fighting functions. Before there was ever a motorized fire engine there were steam-driven pumpers, hose cars, ladder trucks, and some soda-acid chemical carts.

The earliest motorized engines, such as those developed by Walter Christie, were front-wheel-drive rigs which served as tractors to tug the formerly horse-drawn equipment along. By 1910 the motorized pumper had been developed, and most engines had room for carrying hose and performing the functions of both the horse-drawn pumper and hose cart."

So a fire truck is a fire truck, right? Except when it's a triple, or a quad, or in active versus reserve duty. Dig below the surface of red paint and wailing sirens, as Donald Wood did for his article on fire engines in SIA #62, April 1981, and you'll find there's almost as many different configurations of fire engine as there are different chassis that supported fire equipment.

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