Hose One40 Years in Service & Still Running Strong
Article by Martin Goffe for Fire News - circa 1990
Of all the Ahrens-Fox HT models manufactured, very few remain with the original fire department which purchased them. Of these, possibly only a handful remain on the active roll in the sense of actually responding to alarms, while the others are now show and parade pieces.
One Ahrens-Fox HT which has led an active life is that of the Baldwin Fire Department located in Nassau County on Long Island. Register number 3486 has been responding to alarms since new, originally as the first due pumper of Hose Company #1. The rig became second due when a new Mack CF was delivered in 1970.
This did not cause the Fox to stand around in reserve as a showpiece. The truck still rolls on all general or box alarms and is first due when the Mack is out of service (which has occurred quite a few times). For those who monitor the fire radio frequencies, if a call is heard involving the Baldwin Fire Department on 46.20, listen for radio number 2011; that's the fox. The first digit 2, represents the second battalion in Nassau County; 0 represents the first department alphabetically in the second battalion; the first 1 represents the first due pumper of Hose 1 (the Mack), and the second 1 represents the second due (the Fox).
The Baldwin Fox (as it is commonly referred to around here) bears the third from last registration number in the legendary HT series. The last HT number, 3488, is that of Tarrytown, New York, while the second to last, 3487, was assigned to the Oceanside Fire Department (Long Island) Fox - which was sold by the department two years ago. The Baldwin unit is the third Ahrens-Fox owned by the department.
An old story often circulated about the Baldwin Fox concerns the fire to which it was mutual-aid called in the adjoining Village of Freeport in the early seventies. A multi-alarm fire was raging in a restaurant supply house. The Fox was asigned to a hydrant to bolster the water supply to other pumpers on the scene. Once the Fox went to work with its powerful piston pump drawing water from the mains, the greatly increased vacuum in the water mains caused them to collapse.
The Baldwin Fox has the unique distinction of being the last HT ever to leave the Ahrens-Fox plant at Central Avenue in Cincinnati. This took place in the spring of 1967 when Curt Nepper himself drove the rig back to Baldwin after a rebuild job necessitated by an earlier road accident while responding to a local fire call.
As of December 19, 1990, the Fox odometer read 25,891 miles which included a round trip to Cincinnati (indicated above), and quite a few trophy-winning shows in the metropolitan New York - Long Island - Connecticut area. By comparison, on the same date, the 1970 Mack read only 3800 miles after 20 years of service. The mileage on the Fox being 6.8 times greater than the Mack is further evidence of the very active life of this classic of all fire apparatus.
As documents show, the contract for this Fox was signed on August 16, 1950 in the amount of $24,204.53. The completed apparatus, weighing 16,800 pounds, was shipped on April 19, 1951 via the Pennsylvania Railroad to Passaic, New Jersey on a 40 foot railroad car with specific instructions stating that it was to be unloaded from the end door of the car. At the time of arrival at the railroad facility, Frank X. Griesser was to be notified at his location in Bogota, New Jersey. A pump test was performed on May 2, 1951 in Baldwin by Frank, and this turned out to be the three hour acceptance test.
The Fox is a 1000 GPM twin triple type pumper powered by a Hercules 6 cylinder HXE engine, serial number 349232. The bore is 5-3/4", stroke is 6" and compression ratio is 6.4 to 1. The engine features dual ignition with 2 spark plugs per cylinder, and two Zenith model 29-W-14 downdraft carburetors. The fuel tank holds 50 gallons. The truck was delivered with a Willard 140 amp hour, 12 volt battery. The wheel-base is 202" while the width is 96". Tire size is 10.00 x 20. The weight on he rear wheels was 7,950 pounds at delivery (without hose). The booster tank held 150 gallons.
As of the date of the odometer readings cited above, a new pumper is being assembled for Hose Company #1. The Board of Fire Commissioners has determined that "the Ahrens-Fox stays!"