Fire Engines Fire EnginesW.E. Seagrave of Walkerville, Ontario, Seagrave's Canadian cousin from 1907 to 1923.
1912 Seagrave-Gorham centrifugal pumpers, at Pasadena, CA (above) and Long Beach, CA (below).
American-LaFrance aerial ladder, with 1912 Seagrave AC-80 tractor, at Long Beach, CA.
1913 Seagrave chemical and hose, Warren #1, Carson City, NV
Early Seagrave aerial ladder (2nd from left) and hose wagon (far right) are joined by a horse-drawn hose wagon and a fire chief's car, at Long Beach, CA, in 1914.
Long Beach, CA, was an early and frequent user of Seagrave apparatus, including Engine 9 (above) and Engine 10 (below).
At the opposite end of the country from Long Beach, another early and frequent user of Seagrave apparatus was New London, CT.
ex-Watsonville, CA 4-25-1915 Seagrave Model 760 #12733 sports its original centrifugal pump, made by Gorham Engineering of Oakland, CA.
Seagrave shipped this hose wagon to Douglas, AZ, on September 21, 1916. Douglas Fire Department still owns this Seagrave, serial number 15950. It is still powered by its original 4-cylinder Seagrave T-head motor. (Ed Hass photo, at Tucson, AZ, Feb., 1989)
Gray & Davis of Amesbury, MA, made the distinctive kettle-shaped headlights that were used on Seagrave fire apparatus for many years. This example is on the 1916 Seagrave hose wagon #15950 of Douglas, AZ. (Ed Hass photo, at Tucson, AZ, Feb., 1989)
Original Seagrave serial number plate on the wood dashboard of the 1916 hose wagon #15950 at Douglas, AZ. (Ed Hass photo, at Tucson, AZ, Feb., 1989)
Formerly used by the Lincoln Rural Fire Department near Stockton in northern California, this 1917 Seagrave pumper #17834 now belongs to Terry Meyers of Sebastopol, CA. Oddly, #17834 is not listed in the Seagrave factory "painter's log", but it could have originally served Piedmont, CA, which also owned #17832 ansd #17833. Terry's privately-owned "Twin Hills Fire Department" participates in antique fire apparatus events all over the state of California. California Firemen's Muster Association (CFMA) runs these events, and Terry Meyers is an active member of CFMA. (Ed Hass photo)
Terre Haute, IN, remounted the body of one of their three 1917 Seagrave service ladder trucks (serial numbers 18301, 18302, and 18303) onto a 1947 International Harvester (IH) chassis. All three ladder trucks were completed in September, 1917, and they served as Ladders 4, 3, and 2. (Don Feipel photos)
This beautifully-restored Seagrave hose wagon is believed to have been built in 1919. It is powered by a four-cylinder Seagrave T-head engine, and is owned by the Fire Department in Redlands, CA. Redlands had several early Seagrave rigs, but the painter's log does not list one like this for Redlands. Its serial number plate disappeared years ago, presumably as a souvenir to some firefighter, which makes identification virtually impossible. However, Redlands is not far from Pasadena, and Pasadena had a Seagrave pumper #19561 with a factory date of March 23, 1918, so perhaps that one is Redland's mystery 1919 pumper? (Ed Hass photo, at Redlands, CA, 1992)
Frederic S. Seagrave started his fire engine business in Detroit, MI, in 1881 but a few years later, he moved his factory to Columbus, OH. Nevertheless, Detrioit has long been a loyal customer of its hometown fire engine manufacturer. An example is this Model 6CT pumper, serial number 24724, shipped to Detroit, MI, on April 16, 1920. Current owner is Tom Gaines, Bad Axe, MI. (Ed Hass photo, at Greenfield Village, Dearborn, MI, 1986)
This 1921 Seagrave pumper originally served San Mateo, CA. Serial #26882 was painted February 23, 1921. In 1992, the San Mateo Fire Department discovered their old pumper intact but rusting in a junkyard at San Jose, CA, with the San Mateo Fire Department lettering still readable on its hood. So they bought it back. In this photo, it is running, but still in need of much restoration effort. (Ed Hass photo, at San Mateo, CA, 1994)
This chain-drive Seagrave pumper was built in 1924 for Monrovia, CA.
Chicago, IL bought three chain-drive 65-foot water towers from Seagrave: in 1923, 1925, and 1928.
This page was last updated on October 27, 2000.