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One of the Pumpers on the TV series "Emergency" was a Crown Coach open-cab; is this one carrying on the honours ?
(Crown Coach, California is like Leyland and Bedford - built buses, etc; and fire-engines....)
Regards, from Canada,
Pat_R-B
Added by Pat Rivers-Bowerman on 28 December 2008.
(Crown Coach, California is like Leyland and Bedford - built buses, etc; and fire-engines....)
Regards, from Canada,
Pat_R-B
Added by Pat Rivers-Bowerman on 28 December 2008.
Pat -- The "Emergency" series began the first season (1972?) with the open can Crown Coach, which was a reserve LA County Pump. With the popularity of the show, it didn't take long for manufacturer Ward LaFrance to step forward with a "Hero vehicle" for the series, a new WLF pumper. The current Fire Station 51 houses this pumper and a squad, The primary duties for the two squad firefighters is, of course, EMS, however when they respond to a fire, they perform Ladder Company duties.
Here's a treat for members of Fire-Engine-Photos.com -- you can view entire episodes of the TV series "Emergency" online at www.nbc.com/Vintage_Shows/Emergency/video/episodes/ Thankfully, we've made some progress here in North America since the show first aired.
Added by Lou on 29 December 2008.
Here's a treat for members of Fire-Engine-Photos.com -- you can view entire episodes of the TV series "Emergency" online at www.nbc.com/Vintage_Shows/Emergency/video/episodes/ Thankfully, we've made some progress here in North America since the show first aired.
Added by Lou on 29 December 2008.
Although weather conditions, topography, limited water distribution systems and insistence on building wooden structures in areas with well known extreme fire hazards no doubt all contributed massively to the ongoing fire situation in Los Angeles county, another hard fact emerges. Individually and combined, LA city and LA county fire departments have only 41% of the personnel resources of - for example - the city of Chicago, when relative populations are taken into account. This tends to underline the vast differences in fire protection between fire services in different parts of the US, which ranges from excellent to virtually none.
We all know the key to fire suppression is to get to the fire quickly when it is still small, and to have twice as many crews on watch at twice as many fire stations would clearly have potentially made a difference.
Having lived in the Bel Air community in Los Angeles, very near the current fires, which itself lost hundreds of homes in 1961, I cannot comprehend why builders are still allowed to build wooden houses in these hills.
In addition, LAFD reduced crews at two pump stations from eight to six - a great way to save money, but not helpful when it comes to saving houses!
Added by Rob Johnson on 10 January 2025.
We all know the key to fire suppression is to get to the fire quickly when it is still small, and to have twice as many crews on watch at twice as many fire stations would clearly have potentially made a difference.
Having lived in the Bel Air community in Los Angeles, very near the current fires, which itself lost hundreds of homes in 1961, I cannot comprehend why builders are still allowed to build wooden houses in these hills.
In addition, LAFD reduced crews at two pump stations from eight to six - a great way to save money, but not helpful when it comes to saving houses!
Added by Rob Johnson on 10 January 2025.
The LA city fire department made a video of the Bel Air fire in 1961, which is on YouTube, in which they clearly explained why 484 houses burned to the ground then. It is hard to watch but depressingly easy to understand.
And this was SIXTY FOUR years ago! In the meantime the areas filled with houses cheek by jowl in the steep vegetation covered hillsides around the city have grown tremendously, fire service coverage by the city and county has not increased apace - and homes have continued to be built very closely together on the steep and often lush slopes with wood frames, wood roofs, single pane windows and wood siding.
Very often serious fires result in attention being paid to avoiding, or minimizing the effects of, another one. Numerous examples can be quoted, from London to Paris to Marseille to Chicago to San Francisco to Boston, among many others.
But this did not happen in Los Angeles. Marseille, with less than a sixth of metropolitan Los Angeles population has 43 dedicated brush pumpers and tankers as well as its fleet of structural pumpers, and the city’s Marignane airport has a large fleet of civil defense Canadair air tankers. The Los Angeles fire departments both rely almost exclusively on structural fire pumpers, with 1800 liter tanks, compared to the BMPM 4X4 units with 4000 or more. And neither LA force has air tankers, although they did apparently lease two from Canada, Yes, two!
In general, I have taken pride in fire services in many parts of this country, but it is hard to admire the leadership of this city and county when it comes to the staffing and equipment of their fire departments. It is as if their crews are operating in handcuffs.
A few structures have survived the fires. All have tile or metal roofs, concrete or block construction and double glazed windows. They include fire stations and several other public and commercial buildings - but very few homes!
This is not rocket science. The city and county need to rebuild in sensible materials, improve water supplies, increase the numbers of fire stations and personnel, and give them the tools they need.
This will of course cost a lot more than the current budgets. But another avoidable disaster like this with its enormous cost to life and property has to be avoided.
Added by Rob Johnson on 13 January 2025.
And this was SIXTY FOUR years ago! In the meantime the areas filled with houses cheek by jowl in the steep vegetation covered hillsides around the city have grown tremendously, fire service coverage by the city and county has not increased apace - and homes have continued to be built very closely together on the steep and often lush slopes with wood frames, wood roofs, single pane windows and wood siding.
Very often serious fires result in attention being paid to avoiding, or minimizing the effects of, another one. Numerous examples can be quoted, from London to Paris to Marseille to Chicago to San Francisco to Boston, among many others.
But this did not happen in Los Angeles. Marseille, with less than a sixth of metropolitan Los Angeles population has 43 dedicated brush pumpers and tankers as well as its fleet of structural pumpers, and the city’s Marignane airport has a large fleet of civil defense Canadair air tankers. The Los Angeles fire departments both rely almost exclusively on structural fire pumpers, with 1800 liter tanks, compared to the BMPM 4X4 units with 4000 or more. And neither LA force has air tankers, although they did apparently lease two from Canada, Yes, two!
In general, I have taken pride in fire services in many parts of this country, but it is hard to admire the leadership of this city and county when it comes to the staffing and equipment of their fire departments. It is as if their crews are operating in handcuffs.
A few structures have survived the fires. All have tile or metal roofs, concrete or block construction and double glazed windows. They include fire stations and several other public and commercial buildings - but very few homes!
This is not rocket science. The city and county need to rebuild in sensible materials, improve water supplies, increase the numbers of fire stations and personnel, and give them the tools they need.
This will of course cost a lot more than the current budgets. But another avoidable disaster like this with its enormous cost to life and property has to be avoided.
Added by Rob Johnson on 13 January 2025.
KME
Added by Lou on 27 December 2008.