By Bill Adams
Future subjects I’ve wanted to address include repurposing former military vehicles as fire apparatus; fire departments that build their own apparatus; combining the number and functions of the multiple types of wildland brush trucks; and my belief that the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) shouldn’t be mandating Miscellaneous Equipment Allowances on any type of fire apparatus.
Inferring liability in articles makes some editors nervous. Ensuring readers and advertisers are not offended and editorial propriety is observed is hard for some older opinionated commentators. Consequently, controversial subjects are tucked away in the back of my mind to ferment – or decay.
Article ideas are often run by Raisin Squad members during morning coffee. Despite shortcomings such as bad manners, stubbornness, and tendencies to spray drool while talking, they occasionally can put topics into perspectives germane to today’s fire service. When innocuous coffee chit-chat jars memory brain cells, topics can take a circuitous route to get from Point A (memory) to Point B (print). A recent conversation took such a route.
Indians
One morning, our resident pinchpenny whined about used Indian pump cans selling for almost $500 on the internet. This cheapskate can bite a buffalo nickel so hard the animal passes gas. The raisins chimed in: “I don’t think you can buy’em anymore.”
Mendon (NY) 367
Another geezer mentioned he saw Mendon’s grass fire truck (#367) at a recent parade. He said it was a former military weapons carrier that was carrying four Indian pump cans (photos 1 and 2). I jumped right on it saying departments ought to be careful converting former military trucks and especially older ones into fire trucks. The last thing the Squad wanted to hear was me yapping about complying with NFPA fire truck standards. Another raisin attacked: “You old fool – that ain’t no military rig.” He claimed its just a pick-up truck they converted into a grass fire truck. I didn’t believe him, so I asked longtime acquaintance Dale Sweet, the Mendon Fire District’s administrator and a former chief from the nearby Rush Fire Department.
I was wrong; the rig was not a former military vehicle. It did belong to the district but is now owned and used by the Mendon Fire Department as a parade truck. In some volunteer entities, the fire district is a political sub-division that buys the apparatus. Staffing is provided by organizations known as departments, associations and companies. They’re often collectively referred to as the fire department.
In Mendon’s station is a framed letter from a Dodge dealership acknowledging an order for a 1964 Dodge Model WM300 Military Type Power Wagon (Photo 3). It cost $3,185 plus a $45 penalty to upgrade from standard service tires to all traction tires. Commonly called a 1-ton Civilian “Military Type” Flat Fender Style, it was a civilian version of Dodge’s light duty military vehicles built for the military (https://www.stellpower.com/cars-2021/the-original-tough-military-grade-dodge-power-wagon/). Sweet pointed out a framed advertisement (Photo 4) showing a John Bean skid-unit (tank, pump and booster reel) costing $3,700 plus a $60 freight charge. It was similar to the one purchased (Photos 5 and 6) for the grass fire truck.
When I said I remember seeing it at a fire when I was the chief in East Rochester, Sweet fired back, “You’re old. That rig was taken out of service over 30 years ago.” He’s not old enough to be a Raisin, but he’s starting to sound like one. I asked who installed the skid unit and the lights and siren. He replied it’s unknown because many records are misplaced stating what equipment the District or the Department or even the Auxiliary may have purchased for the truck. I said ask someone. He fired back: “Bill, that was 60 years ago. Most members who were active back then have passed away. Those still alive are probably too old to remember. You should know what that’s like!”
Sweet relayed a few unsubstantiated old-timers’ tales passed down during the years. He said the grab rails on the sides of 367’s body that extend down to the tailboard came off their 1932 Chevrolet pumper. Another was the truck did not have a winch when delivered. Supposedly, the truck later made an unscheduled trip to an unremembered western New York military installation. When it returned, it sported a front-end winch manufactured by Dranden. It was similar or identical to ones used on military rigs of that era (Photo 7). End of story. It reminds me of the iconic saying by the character Sergeant Schultz from the Hogan’s Heroes TV show: “I know nothing!”
The steel treadplate rear step, rear fenders steps, and running boards appeared professionally fabricated. Sweet said local fabricating shops were capable of such work. I said it probably was sent to either Saulsbury, Young or Sanford to have the work done being they were all located within 100 miles. Sweet: “Good luck finding that out. Those apparatus manufacturers are no longer in business. Don’t you remember? You used to sell for one of them!”
Unfazed, I consulted longtime friend Tom Shand – a well-known fire apparatus guru and former associate from the apparatus industry. He said: “The treadplate work does not look like something that Young, Saulsbury or Sanford would have done. Perhaps a local metal shop did this work. It does not match the treadplate used back in the day. The steel wrapped around the rear is a little different.”
Liability
Why go through all this rigmarole if a fire department wants to repurpose a military type vehicle for firefighting? My response is fire departments will continue – if not increase – the use of repurposed military vehicles. Some person or some entity might be assuming a degree of liability if a repurposed military chassis is not street legal or NFPA compliant and something bad happens. It’s no different than a fire department purchasing a new chassis and mounting an old body on it or building a new one for it in its own shops.
A 40-year-old chassis with little to no mileage is still a 40-year-old chassis. If repurposed for a fire truck, does it have to meet current NFPA 1900 standards? Does it have to meet current motor vehicle standards? Some states have criteria for motor vehicles over a certain age that legally are, or can be, considered antiques. Can such a vehicle lacking modern-day accoutrements required by today’s laws be legally used on-the-road as an emergency vehicle? Reputable fire apparatus manufacturers are intimately aware of rules, regulations and liability. Are fire departments?
Power Wagons
People who’ve served in the military or researched its procurement procedures knows it uses 25 words and multiple identification numbers to describe things when just one or a few will do. I spent weeks researching the Dodge WM300 Military Style Power Wagon and its inbred predecessors. Facts and figures vary in websites sponsored by truck enthusiasts, manufacturers, and military historians. Have patience – they may have confused me.
Power Wagons were not military vehicles. Power Wagon is just a label. It’s a moniker Dodge used after World War II to describe medium duty civilian trucks manufactured after the war. The original version was called a “Flat Fender Power Wagon” (FFPW)” or a “Military Type” vehicle. It was based upon the WC Series light-duty 4×4 1/2-ton and 3/4-ton military vehicles. More than 337,000 WCs were built from 1940 to 1945.
The M37 was a 3/4-ton 4×4 replacement for the WC Series. More than 115,000 M37s in a dozen variants were built from 1951 to 1968. Like the WC Series, each variant had its own identification number and verbal description including Weapons Carrier. The major visual difference between them was the M37 had a pick-up style truck body with rear fenders and the WC Series had a wider and boxier rear end without fenders.
The WM300 designation was one of the last monikers for the military looking civilian Power Wagons. It’s unknown how many WM300s were built, however, some parts and pieces were identical or interchangeable between the WC and M series and some of the military looking WM300 Power Wagons. At first glance, it can be difficult to tell if a vehicle is one your father or your grandfather drove. Look for the pick-up style body or a traceable serial number.
GVWR & Carrying Capacity
From what I gather, older military vehicles did not reference Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) ratings (aka GVWR). They specified carrying capacities, hence military truck descriptions such as 3/4 ton, 1-ton, 2 1/2-ton and so forth. Civilian versions like the Power Wagons had a data plate (Photo 8) showing pertinent civilian data. I couldn’t find similar data plates for older military vehicles. They might have relied on an identification plate with a serial number similar to Photo 9. The serial number is supposed to be identical to the number stamped on the frame. Be aware with part interchangeability, after delivery modifications, and in field changes may affect published weight ratings. It is unknown if recent military vehicles have more definitive GVWRs.
Why’s all this important? Imagine if your repurposed military truck responding lights and siren to an alarm crashes into some attorney’s car. The police, the attorney, and his insurance company may want to know the rig’s GVWR, its actual in-service weight, and whether it’s legal to drive it on a public highway in an emergency mode. If you can’t find the data, good luck in court.
Tom Shand provided a couple websites that could be of interest to departments contemplating repurposing military rigs into brush trucks:
Also informative are:
- https://www.stellpower.com/cars-2021/the-original-tough-military-grade-dodge-power-wagon/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_M37
- https://www.quora.com/Are-army-trucks-street-legal
- https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/resources/fact-sheets/facts-about-registration-former-military-vehicles
Back to the Indian Tanks
The D.B. Smith Company of Utica, New York has been around since 1888. Its first Indian back-pack style fire pump was introduced in 1925 but not patented until the early 1960s. The Smith company is now part of the Fountainhead Group also of Central New York. As of press time, they haven’t changed their moniker.
