GULP: American LaFrance Fire Trucks

[BobPalma]

'Might be old news, but this from the Hemmings Daily Blog:

http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2014/03/12/american-lafrance-the-firefighting-legend-is-no-more/?refer=news

'First I'd heard of it.

('Looks like the last iteration was just outside our son's adopted town of Charleston SC.) BP

[jclary]

Well...we must look on the bright side!...???...you know, our P/C media keeps telling us the economy is recovering...so...here we have a whole new group of former firetruck builders who are now eligible for the new MINIMUM WAGE!

Perhaps they can find new "shovel ready" jobs! Even better...how 'bout the next generation trucks that operate on solar power...supplemented by Wind Power...supplemented by wind-up Rubber Band motors!

Surely...some future Harvard wiz-bang graduate is probably writing the application for the federal grant to get it up and running at this very moment. I'm sure the current crowd of Ivy League supplied brilliant leaders will be thrilled at the concept.

However...before any further achievements can be allowed...I understand that the next big campaign will be to send Nobel Prizes to all citizens of the world so that no one will have to suffer the indignation of not having one.

Sorry if you detect a tiny bit of sarcasm in my reply...but it really is sad to see these once proud reputable brands fade to history. You would think that losing such an Icon of "Emergency Service" would be a symbol of great "Alarm" instead of the "Yawn" it has apparently received in the media.

[JEWELL]

John, not to worry,we will just look to China for new firetrucks.

Mark

[FlatheadGeo]

...and another one bites the dust!!! Very, very sad!

[48skyliner]

The failure of American LaFrance is sad indeed, but inevitable in my opinion, for three reasons:

1. Most of the customers who would by these firetrucks, the towns, cities, counties and states, are in dire financial straits because of the stupidity of their leadership, and cannot afford new equipment.

2. Like the automotive and aviation industries, the manufacturers and the customers have become obsessed with technology, and the machinery they build and buy just keep getting bigger and much more complex, with every conceivable bell and whistle you can imagine. We really don't need a million dollar fire truck to put out the average house fire, just as you and I don't need a seven way power seat with memory when we drive to work or to the grocery store.

3. LaFrance has changed owners numerous times in the past 30-40 years, and we can reasonably assume that in some cases the people put in charge may have had little knowledge about the business. That would certainly be typical of modern corporate America.

[t walgamuth]

Well...we must look on the bright side!...???...you know, our P/C media keeps telling us the economy is recovering...so...here we have a whole new group of former firetruck builders who are now eligible for the new MINIMUM WAGE!

Perhaps they can find new "shovel ready" jobs! Even better...how 'bout the next generation trucks that operate on solar power...supplemented by Wind Power...supplemented by wind-up Rubber Band motors!

Surely...some future Harvard wiz-bang graduate is probably writing the application for the federal grant to get it up and running at this very moment. I'm sure the current crowd of Ivy League supplied brilliant leaders will be thrilled at the concept.

However...before any further achievements can be allowed...I understand that the next big campaign will be to send Nobel Prizes to all citizens of the world so that no one will have to suffer the indignation of not having one.

Sorry if you detect a tiny bit of sarcasm in my reply...but it really is sad to see these once proud reputable brands fade to history. You would think that losing such an Icon of "Emergency Service" would be a symbol of great "Alarm" instead of the "Yawn" it has apparently received in the media.

Your comments sound political.

[jclary]

Your comments sound political.

Only if you read them out loud. Shhhh, I wuz typing very quietly...they're even invisible if you don't look.

[wittsend]

"We really don't need a million dollar fire truck to put out the average house fire, ..."

I've noticed that there seems to a lot of "one upmanship" amongst the services where I live. They have all the "latest/greatest" equipment. It seems to require constant update and the application seems very limited. The "over doing" reminds me of when they drained the whole pool in Caddy Shack only to find that the poop was just a Tootsie Roll.

They have open houses demonstrating robots and the like. But at the end of the day we still have comparatively more "general crime" that would probably benefit the public interest to put the dollars towards.

[JBOYLE]

Like the automotive and aviation industries, the manufacturers and the customers have become obsessed with technology, and the machinery they build and buy just keep getting bigger and much more complex.

While I don't disagree with your general sentiments, I'll point out that even non-hi-tech vehicles are very expensive any more.
Anyone price a semi tractor, dump truck, farm tractor or school bus lately? I'd bet we'd be shocked by the sticker.

[jclary]

Funny you guys should mention "latest and greatest."...Just yesterday, on the local news, there was helicopter video from a couple of our local news channels, showing one of our nearby volunteer Department Fire Engines. The Engine itself may have been their "Latest and Greatest"...but, the 83 year-old driver blasted out of the Station on his way to an alarm...only to lay it on its side across the road from where he launched the vehicle!

Report was he's OK...and I know it was a serious incident...but...I could see it as terriffic fodder for an old "laugh-in" or Saturday Night Live skit.

Even the "latest and greatest" is at the mercy of quick reflexes, good arm strength, or at least good eyesight.

For a forum full of "old geezers" ...the fact that we know how to find our way here...indicates that some of us are not willing to give up on technology.

As for as prices...I'm a 1944 baby...survived the '50's...with 1960's prices imprinted on my brain...trying to make my way in 2014 and beyond...all prices are "Sticker Shock."

[rockne10]

A friend to all Studebakers, Stan Smith, Jr and his father restored the 1931 Studebaker Special that won the Pikes Peak in 1931 and competed at Indianapolis in '31, '32 and '33.
A dozen or so years ago he took me for a spin in this 1914 American LaFrance Chief's Speedster.


Stan has never been cautious when it comes to pushing a high torque apparatus. One hand on my hat, one hand with white knuckles on the little brass bar on the left of the bucket! I guess the Chief always wanted to get there before the horses!

[8E45E]

I have not posted an 'Orphan of the Day' for a little over two years, but I guess this one now qualifies:



Craig

[Andy R.]

It's a shame alright, but least it is immortalized in my kids' Little Golden Book!