1969 Kenworth-Maxim 100' Tractor-Drawn Tillered Aerial 
 (Apparatus #316)

     

        You Won't See Another One of These. . .  

          As common as the front end of a Kenworth is to all of us in the Pacific Northwest, and as common
          as the tractor-drawn tillered configuration has become for big-city ladder trucks, you will not see
          another ladder truck like this anywhere!

          The Seattle Fire Department has purchased several types and makes of tillered aerial ladder trucks
          over the years, beginning with a horse-drawn rig in 1906, then continuing with an array of motorized
          units built by most all the big-name fire apparatus manufacturers of the era - Seagrave, Mack and
          American LaFrance.  The SFD had previous success with Kenworth fire apparatus beginning with
          its first KW pumper which went into service in 1942.  Subsequent orders in 1946, '49, '53, '64 and
          '67 proved the rigs to be rugged and reliable and able to withstand the demands placed on them in
          the fire service.

          So, in 1969, with Seattle needing to replace two aging aerials in the Capitol Hill and Belltown areas,
          the department ordered two new ladder trucks, the likes of which had never been seen before
          (or since)  - - two tillered aerials with KENWORTH tractors.

 

 

              

          Each rig was powered by a 350 hp eight cylinder Detroit Diesel engine, and was equipped with an
          Allison "Power-Shift" six-speed semi-automatic transmission.  After the tractors were completed,
          they were driven back east to the Maxim plant in Middleboro Massachusetts to receive their Maxim-
          built trailers, aerial ladders, and partial tiller cabs.  The two were then driven back to Seattle, and
          the compartments, and all the other "finishing touches" were completed here, by Heiser, and the
          S.F.D. maintenance shops.  The first one went into service at Ladder 10 on Capitol HIll, and soon
          thereafter, App 316 was assigned to Ladder 1 at Fire Department Headquarters in Pioneer Square. 
          It replaced a 1960 American LaFrance which was re-assigned to Ladder 4 in Belltown.

         

          After serving the SFD for 25 years, the first of the pair (App. 315) was sold in 1994 to a private
          party without the aerial and without the tiller cab.  The new owner, wanting only the tractor portion,
          quickly got rid of the trailer.

This leaves App 316 as the only original Kenworth tillered aerial in existence, to our knowledge.  It is also the last "conventional-cab" tractor-drawn tillered aerial to be carried on the SFD roster, as well as the last of NINE SFD ladder trucks to be equipped with a Maxim aerial, and the only one of those that still exists.

HISTORICAL NOTE:

In 1978, the producers of the television show "EMERGENCY", did a two-hour movie in Seattle, entitled "Most Deadly Passage".  Firefighters John Gage and Roy DeSoto (Randolph Mantooth and Kevin Tighe) spent time with Seattle firefighters and paramedics, responding to three major events . . . a suspected jumper from the Space Needle, a high-angle rescue inside the Kingdome, and an engine room fire in an occupied ferry boat in Seattle's Elliott Bay.  In the Kingdome segment, "Ladder One" is shown responding out of Headquarters, traveling down 2nd Avenue South, and into the Kingdome.  The aerial is raised inside the building, and a rescue is made using a Stokes stretcher.  The aerial ladder truck in service as "Ladder One" at the time, and the one that is shown in that segment, is none other than our "App. 316".

 

                                                        

      

                                        



               

 
                   

                 Historical Photos . . .

               

                                               App 316  (Ladder 1)  1972
                                                (drilling in front of Station 10)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                          

                                               App 316  (Ladder 1)  1982
                                 (with open crew compartment on each side of trailer)


                          

                                               App 316  (Ladder 1)  1986
                                             (with safety door installed on crew compartment)



                          

                      App 316  (Ladder 1)  at Station 10 with Aid 10 & Engine 10
                                           


                          

                                              App 316  (in storage)  2000
                                            (awaiting "rescue" by Last Resort Fire Department)



                   

                                   ~  Apparatus 316 Company Assignments  ~

                         1970 - 1988                                         Ladder 1 - 301-2nd Ave S (Station 10)
                         1988 - 1988                                         Ladder 10 - 1300 E Pine St (Station 25)
                         1988 - 1989                                         Reserve and in Shop
                         1989 - 1994                                         Ladder 4 - 2334-4th Ave (Station 2)
                         1994 - 2001                                         Reserve (in storage - May 2000)
                         2001 . . . .                                          Sold

                   

                                        ~  The Stations  ~ 

                         

                                        SFD Fire Station #10 (1928-2008)

                                        SFD Headquarters (1928-present)

                                           App 316  (Ladder 1)  1970-1988

 

                                   

                                               SFD Fire Station #25 (1970-present)

                                                   App 316  (Ladder 10)  1988-1988

 

                                             

                                                          SFD Fire Station #2 (1921-present)

                                                              App 316  (Ladder 4)  1989-1994

 

                   

 
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