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1960 American LaFrance 100' Tractor-Drawn Tillered Aerial(Apparatus #272)  Boeing Airplane Company photo The Jet Era On January 27, 1961, the Seattle Fire Department took delivery of the World's first production turbine-engine powered fire truck. Costing $52,498.16, and dubbed the "Turbo Chief", the rig was a 1960 American LaFrance "900" series 100-foot tractor-drawn tillered aerial. It was powered by a 324-horsepower model 502-10MA Boeing gas-turbine engine, distinguished in appearance by a huge stainless steel exhaust stack. The turbine engine had many advantages over standard engines. It was light weight, weighing only 335 pounds, and was one-tenth the size of a conventional engine. With slight adjustments, it could burn gasoline, kerosene, jet-engine fuel, or diesel oil. It had exceptional acceleration and hill climbing ability. During tests, the 15-ton apparatus went from a standing start to 50 miles per hour in 31 seconds, and it took 56 seconds to reach 50 miles per hour on an eight-percent grade. It needed no warm up time in sub-zero temperatures, and the elimination of an engine cooling system made for simplicity and reduced maintenance costs. The purchase contract with Boeing and American LaFrance stipulated that the original power plant would be replaced at no cost to the city should the gas turbine installation be determined to be unsuitable. Although the gas turbine did provide modest "compression" to retard the truck, it was not as quick to "spool down" as a reciprocating engine so the rig needed to be driven with that in mind. In actual emergency service, however, the drivers' tendencies to "ride" the brakes resulted in unanticipated wear to the tractor's original extra-wide brake shoes and drums which caused the rig to be out of service an excessive amount of time. Thus, the rig was returned to American LaFrance for engine replacement. It was returned to Seattle on November 27, 1962, with a new 323-horsepower Hall-Scott engine and Fuller standard transmission. On July 1, 1977, a new 350-horsepower Detroit diesel engine and Allison automatic transmission were installed, the rig was completely repainted and the tiller cab enclosed. With the rig once again looking like new, it would serve the S.F.D. for another 14 years. 
American LaFrance photo App 272 (Factory Photo, Elmira NY) 1960
 Boeing Airplane Company photo App 272 (On the runway at Boeing Field, Seattle WA) 1960
App 272 (Delivery Photo, Seattle WA) 1960
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App 272 (Ladder 4 with Detroit Diesel Model 8V-71 Engine) 1978
SFD Fire Station #2 (1921-present)
San Francisco's "Turbo Chief" went into service 18 days after Seattle's on May 2, 1961 It was re-powered on August 18, 1966  <~~ Previous Next ~~>
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