• Home
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Safety Alerts
  • Divisions
    • Administration
      • Meet Our Team
      • Chief Stephen Laforet
      • Organization Chart
    • Apparatus / Equipment
      • Apparatus Types
      • Equipment
      • Mechanic Certifications
      • Apparatus Locations
    • Communications
    • Emergency Management
    • Fire & Rescue
      • Fire Stations
      • Medical Response
      • After the Fire
      • Firefighters
        • In the Line of Duty
        • Padre’s Corner
        • Prayers, Creeds & Thoughts
        • Co-op Students
          • Spring 2020
          • Fall 2019
          • Spring 2019
          • Alumni Photo Gallery
    • Fire Prevention
      • Investigation
      • Prevention / Education
    • Training / Recruiting
  • Fire Prevention
    • Fire Prevention Week
      • Sparky’s Weekly Challenge
    • Fire Safety Plan Templates
    • Information Requests & Applications
    • Lock Box Program
    • Smoke Alarm/Carbon Monoxide Alarm Information
    • Important Ontario Fire Code Information
    • Fire Prevention Videos
  • Emergency Management
    • Emergency Preparedness Guide
    • Lake and River Flooding
    • Residential Guide to Flood Prevention and Recovery
  • Public Education
    • Building Owners
    • Carbon Monoxide Information
    • Child/Youth Fire Safety
    • COPE – Care Outreach and Prevention for Everyone
    • Fire Safety & Fall Prevention for Older Adults
    • General Fire Safety Issues
    • High-Rise Fire Safety
    • Home Fire Safety
    • Outdoor Fire Safety
    • Smoke Alarm Information
    • Sprinklers
    • Translated Materials
      • English
      • Arabic
      • Chinese – Simplified
      • Chinese – Traditional
      • French
      • Khmer
      • Korean
      • Portuguese
      • Punjabi
      • Spanish
      • Urdu
    • When Disaster Strikes
  • WFRS History
    • WFRS Apparatus Histories
    • Windsor Fire Stations Histories
    • Firefighting Traditions
    • Historic Windsor Fires
    • Miscellaneous History Articles
  • FAQ
  • Links
  • Contact
    • Windsor Fire & Rescue Services
    • Essex County Fire Services

WindsorFire.com

  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Flickr
  • RSS Feed
  • WFRS Apparatus Histories

    • A A A

    Old Engine 6’s Last Run

    Old soldiers never die, it is said. But sadly — just like all worn-out passenger cars and trucks – most old fire engines are eventually hauled off to the junkyard.[…]

    Read more
    Windsor First Motor Pumper - 1914 Seagrave.

    100 Years of Motorized Apparatus

    An important historical milestone was passed in mid-April, 2014. It was exactly 100 years ago that the Windsor Fire Department placed into service its very first piece of motorized fire[…]

    Read more
    Under Repair in WFD Shops: Mechanics Dave Wedow and Mike Koehl.

    Rebuilding Engine No. 5

    On August 31, 1963, the Windsor Fire Department’s Engine No. 5 – a 1952 Bickle-Seagrave 1050 gpm pumper  – was extensively damaged in a collision with an automobile at the[…]

    Read more
    The 2001 Luverne/Spartan Squad at WFRS Headquarters.

    The Luverne Rescue Squad

    It’s a long way from sunny Phoenix, Arizona to Canada’s southernmost city, but one of the more interesting rigs to see service with the Windsor Fire & Rescue Service made[…]

    Read more
    The Cafs Pumper

    The Cafs Pumper

    In late 1995, Windsor Fire & Rescue Services took delivery of a new triple combination pumper with a difference. Built by Carl Thibault Ltd. of Drummondville, Quebec on a Spartan[…]

    Read more
    Thibault

    Back to Red: 1993 Carl Thibault Pumper

    In November, 1974, the Windsor Fire Department took delivery of its first lime-yellow rig – a 1050 IGPM pumper built by King-Seagrave Ltd of Woodstock, Ontario on a tilt-cab Ford[…]

    Read more
    2000 Sausbury/Spartan ESU

    The Saulsbury E.S.U.

    During the summer of 2000, the Windsor Fire & Rescue Service took delivery of three new pieces of apparatus built by a well-known American fire apparatus manufacturer – Saulsbury Fire[…]

    Read more
    Orion Incident Command Centre

    Windsor’s Mobile Command Posts

    In the good old days, it wasn’t hard to find the Chief Engineer on the fireground — he was the commanding figure in the white helmet and coat, barking orders[…]

    Read more
    Horse Hose

    Windsor’s Early Hose Wagons

    For more than 200 years, hose – that highly portable, flexible means of getting water onto the fire – has been the most important basic tool in the firefighter’s arsenal[…]

    Read more
    Magic Wagon

    Thinking Small: The W.F.D.’S Magic Wagon

    In November 1983, Chrysler Canada Ltd. launched production of a revolutionary new kind of passenger vehicle in its Windsor Assembly Plant. The first vehicles of their kind built in North[…]

    Read more
    W.E. Seagrave Motor Combination

    Horses Versus Horsepower: 1911 Contest Pits Motor Fire Apparatus Against Horse-Drawn Rig

    Just over 100 years ago, the Windsor Fire Department participated in an epochal contest that pitted a horse-drawn fire wagon against a fast- emerging rival — one of the new-fangled[…]

    Read more
    WINDSOR'S FIRST LADDER TRUCK

    Windsor’s First Ladder Truck

    When Windsor was incorporated in 1854, most of the buildings in the bustling little town on the Canadian shore of the Detroit River were no more than one or two[…]

    Read more
    One of the two 1913 W.E. Seagrave Combinations.

    Walkerville Motorizes

    Swallowed up by the City of Windsor in the 1935 municipal amalgamation that also absorbed the former communities of Sandwich and East Windsor, the thriving, affluent Town of Walkerville was[…]

    Read more
    W.F.D. HEADQUARTERS, 1939

    W.F.D. Headquarters, 1939

    Sometime in late May of 1939, a photographer – his name lost to time — climbed to the roof of the bustling Windsor City Market on Pitt St. E. Looking[…]

    Read more
    1980 Dodge St. Regis

    The Chief’s Buggy, Part 2

    As noted in Part 1, the Windsor Fire Department purchased its first station wagon in 1961. The steel-bodied, four-door 1961 Chevrolet wagon was much more versatile than a conventional coupe[…]

    Read more
    Chief Clarence DeFields

    The Chief’s Buggy

    Ever since horses replaced manpower to pull fire apparatus, the Chief Engineer – or Fire Chief in today’s vernacular — has traditionally sped to fires in his own special vehicle.[…]

    Read more
    The Suburbs - Riverside's Rigs

    The Suburbs – Riverside’s Rigs

    In its half-century of existence the Riverside Fire Department utilized just four pieces of motor fire apparatus. The small volunteer fire department’s first motorized fire truck was a 1924 Ford[…]

    Read more
    W.F.D. “Television Stars” !

    W.F.D. “Television Stars” !

    Windsor’s first television station – CKLW-TV – took to the airwaves in the fall of 1954. For many years Channel 9’s tall red-and-white-painted transmission tower behind the new TV station[…]

    Read more
    1916 Menard City Service Ladder Truck

    Windsor’s Four Menards

    Well-known Windsor wagon maker Moise L. Menard began production of an automobile bearing his own name in 1908. Two years later Menard switched exclusively to truck production in his small[…]

    Read more
    Fireboat

    Marine 1: Windsor’s Fireboat

    With an extensive, heavily built up Detroit River shoreline, Windsor has, for more than a century, relied on neighboring Detroit when a fireboat was needed to battle a major waterfront[…]

    Read more
    1935 Annexation Transforms W.F.D.

    1935 Annexation Transforms W.F.D.

    On July 1, 1935 the City of Windsor annexed the neighboring towns of Walkerville, Sandwich and East Windsor. This historic amalgamation drastically altered the size and composition of the Windsor[…]

    Read more
    City Of Roses and Rosenbauers!

    Windsor: City Of Roses and Rosenbauers!

    With the delivery of three new pumpers earlier this year, the Rosenbauer name became the most prolific on the Windsor Fire & Rescue Services current apparatus roster. One of the[…]

    Read more
    Windsor's Sutphen Towers

    Windsor’s Sutphen Towers

    Clarence Sutphen founded his fire equipment sales business in Columbus, Ohio in 1890. Mr. Sutphen added motor fire apparatus to his wares when he became a sales agent for the[…]

    Read more
    A Century of

    A Century of “Sticks”

    One hundred years ago, the Windsor Fire Department received its first aerial hook and ladder truck. Built by the W. E. Seagrave Fire Apparatus Company in neighboring Walkerville in 1910,[…]

    Read more

    Windsor’s Only Steam Fire Engine – 1868 Amoskeag

    The introduction of the first successful steam fire engine in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1852 revolutionized firefighting in North America, precipitating as it did the replacement of often rowdy, politically powerful[…]

    Read more
    Windsor's Civil Defense Pumpers

    Windsor’s Civil Defense Pumpers

    In the early 1950s – at the height of the Cold War scare – the Canadian federal and provincial Governments provided special funding to bolster the firefighting and rescue capabilities[…]

    Read more
    Sandwich West

    From Sandwich West

    As noted in an earlier article, following the January 1, 1966 annexation of the former Town of Riverside and a portion of Sandwich West Township, the Windsor Fire Department acquired[…]

    Read more
    Ford City's LaFrances

    Ford City’s LaFrances

    In the late summer of 1904 a bold, new industrial enterprise set up shop in the former Walkerville Wagon Works factory on Riverside Drive East near Drouillard Rd. The fledgling[…]

    Read more
    Windsor's

    Windsor’s “Other” Rescue Squad

    Following the annexation by Windsor of Riverside and a portion of Sandwich West Township on January 1, 1966 the Windsor Fire Department acquired half a dozen pieces of fire apparatus[…]

    Read more
    Sandwich’s Gotfredson

    Sandwich’s Gotfredson

    In one of our very first articles in this series, we chronicled the remarkable, continuing history of a Gotfredson-Bickle pumper delivered to the Walkerville Fire Department in 1927. Eight years[…]

    Read more
    The Hurricane Twins

    The Hurricane Twins

    In 1974, retired playground equipment maker Robert Wormser constructed a light-duty rescue unit in the garage of his Florida home. Buoyed by its success, he formed a company to make[…]

    Read more
    Windsor's Pumpers: Engine No. 9 From Riverside

    Windsor’s Pumpers: Engine No. 9 From Riverside

    With the annexation of the former Town of Riverside on January 1, 1966, the Windsor Fire Department acquired three pieces of apparatus: a two-year-old LaFrance/Mercury 100-foot quint with 840 gpm[…]

    Read more
    1938 Bickle/Ford Parade Rig

    1938 Bickle/Ford Parade Rig

    With the January 1, 1966 annexation by the City of Windsor of the former Town of Riverside and portions of Sandwich East and Sandwich West Townships, the Windsor Fire Department[…]

    Read more
    Windsor's Pumpers: The Seagrave Twins

    Windsor’s Pumpers: The Seagrave Twins

    After an absence of many years, the famed Seagrave nameplate returned to the Windsor Fire & Rescue Services apparatus roster in the early 1990s. Windsor’s first aerial ladder truck, purchased[…]

    Read more
    Windsor’s Pumpers: The First Spartans

    Windsor’s Pumpers: The First Spartans

    In 1975, several former employees of the recently-closed Diamond-Reo truck manufacturing firm in Lansing, Michigan organized a new company in nearby Charlotte to make custom cab-forward fire truck chassis for[…]

    Read more
    Windsor’s Second Snorkel: Aerial Tower No.2

    Windsor’s Second Snorkel: Aerial Tower No.2

    Introduced in Chicago in 1958, the elevating platform – or Snorkel – revolutionized aerial firefighting in North America. The Windsor Fire Department received its first elevating platform in October, 1971.[…]

    Read more
    Windsor’s Pumpers: The Pierreville Four

    Windsor’s Pumpers: The Pierreville Four

    Although the Windsor fire Department had purchased two new pumpers in the early 1970s, the rest of the city’s pumper fleet was rapidly becoming antiquated. An American-LaFrance pumper delivered in[…]

    Read more
    1974 King/Ford: The Greening Of The W.F.D.

    1974 King/Ford: The Greening Of The W.F.D.

    In 1970, a respected optometrist in Oswego, N.Y. released the results of a scientific study which concluded that yellow was a much more visible — and safer — color for[…]

    Read more
    First Of The Fords: Engine No. 10

    First Of The Fords: Engine No. 10

    In 1957, the Ford Motor Company introduced a new line of medium/heavy-duty trucks called the “C” Series. The new C-Series Ford’s rectangular, flat-faced cab tilted forward for unhindered access to[…]

    Read more
    Windsor’s Pumpers: The Mack E-2

    Windsor’s Pumpers: The Mack E-2

    For most of the past century, the “big three” of the U.S. and Canadian fire apparatus industry were American-LaFrance, Seagrave — and Mack.Mack was unique among North American heavy truck[…]

    Read more
    Windsor’s Pumpers: 1960 Pierre Thibault

    Windsor’s Pumpers: 1960 Pierre Thibault

    By the mid-1950s, the Windsor Fire Department had pretty much completed its postwar modernization program. Following the delivery of a Bickle-Seagrave pumper in 1953, no more new pumpers or ladder[…]

    Read more
    Windsor’s Pumpers: 1953 Bickle-Seagrave

    Windsor’s Pumpers: 1953 Bickle-Seagrave

    In 1951, the Seagrave Corporation – and its Canadian subsidiary, Bickle-Seagrave Ltd. of Woodstock, Ontario — marked its 70th anniversary with the introduction of a totally redesigned series of pumpers[…]

    Read more
    Windsor’s Pumpers: 1952 Bickle-Seagrave

    Windsor’s Pumpers: 1952 Bickle-Seagrave

    In 1951, The Seagrave Corporation of Columbus, Ohio — and its Canadian cousin, Bickle-Seagrave Ltd. of Woodstock, Ontario — marked Seagrave’s 70th anniversary as one of North America’s leading manufacturers[…]

    Read more
    Windsor’s Pumpers: 1950 Bickle-Seagrave – Engine #3

    Windsor’s Pumpers: 1950 Bickle-Seagrave – Engine #3

    As the nineteen-fifties began, Windsor’s pumper fleet was urgently in need of modernization. Most of the city’s front-line pumpers were wide-open, chain-drive relics of the 1920s. The Windsor Fire Department[…]

    Read more
    Windsor’s Pumpers: 1948 American-LaFrance 700

    Windsor’s Pumpers: 1948 American-LaFrance 700

    Immediately following the Second World War, Windsor’s firefighting fleet was in dire need of modernization. The city’s last new pumper had been purchased in the mid-1920s, and only one new[…]

    Read more
    Windsor’s Pumpers: The Bickle Twins

    Windsor’s Pumpers: The Bickle Twins

    Founded in Winnipeg in 1906 and relocated to Woodstock, Ontario in 1914, Bickle Fire Engines Ltd. was about as close to a purely Canadian motor fire apparatus manufacturer this nation[…]

    Read more
    Windsor’s Pumpers: The 1925 LaFrance

    Windsor’s Pumpers: The 1925 LaFrance

    Of the four chain-drive American-LaFrance pumpers which served the Windsor Fire Department from the 1920s through the 1950s, the last one purchased had the most colorful, and distinguished, service life.Built[…]

    Read more
    Windsor’s Pumpers: The Chain-Drive LaFrances

    Windsor’s Pumpers: The Chain-Drive LaFrances

    In 1914, the American-LaFrance Fire Engine Company of Elmira, N.Y. opened a Canadian subsidiary plant and office in Toronto. Founded in 1904 with roots extending all the way back to[…]

    Read more
    Windsor’s Rescue Squads Part 6 “The Saulsbury”

    Windsor’s Rescue Squads Part 6 “The Saulsbury”

    Three-quarters of a century later, one can only wonder what the members of Windsor’s very first rescue squad would think of Rescue 3 — Windsor’s current heavy rescue apparatus.Compared with[…]

    Read more
    Windsor’s Rescue Squads Part 5 – Tilt-Cab Fords

    Windsor’s Rescue Squads Part 5 – Tilt-Cab Fords

    Purchased in the mid-1960s and early `70s, Windsor’s two rescue squad trucks were due for replacement as the 1980s began. Squad 1’s 1967 Chevrolet and Squad 2’s 1970 Fargo had[…]

    Read more
    Windsor's Rescue Squads Part 4

    Windsor’s Rescue Squads Part 4

    Since the formation of its first emergency life-saving squad in the early 1930s, the Windsor Fire Department’s rescue squad had always responded to alarms out of the W.F.D.’s Headquarters Station[…]

    Read more
    Windsor’s Rescue Squads Part 3 – “The Bug”

    Windsor’s Rescue Squads Part 3 – “The Bug” (continued)

    After nearly 17 years of hard urban fire service, “The Bug” was simply wearing out. The fleet-footed 1940 Ford had already been through two flathead V8 engines, and repair parts[…]

    Read more
    Windsor's Rescue Squads Part 2 -

    Windsor’s Rescue Squads Part 2 – “The Bug”

    Most of the current members of the Windsor Fire & Rescue Services won’t recognize this colorful nickname, but just mention “The Bug” to any longtime Windsor Fire Department retiree and[…]

    Read more
    Windsor’s Rescue Squads Part 1

    Windsor’s Rescue Squads Part 1

    Just over a century ago, in the latter part of 1906, the Springfield, Massachusetts Fire Department placed the first “Flying Squadron” into service. Using a locally-built Knox squad car, the[…]

    Read more
    Aerial Ladder Trucks – Part 8

    Aerial Ladder Trucks – Part 8

    “THE QUEBEC TWINS “ By the late 1970s, the years were again catching up to Windsor’s hard-working aerial ladder fleet. More than a decade had passed since the Windsor Fire[…]

    Read more
    Aerial Ladder Trucks – Part 7

    Aerial Ladder Trucks – Part 7

    “THE SNORKEL” Strolling back to his office after lunch one day in 1957, Chicago Fire Commissioner Robert J. Quinn paused to watch some city tree-trimmers at work in a city[…]

    Read more
    Aerial Ladder Trucks – Part 6

    Aerial Ladder Trucks – Part 6

    1967 LaFRANCE-INTERNATIONAL By the mid-1960s, Windsor’s aerial ladder fleet was beginning to show its age. Aerial No. 1A — a 1936 American-LaFrance — had been in service for nearly three[…]

    Read more
    Aerial Ladder Trucks – Part 5

    Aerial Ladder Trucks – Part 5

    THE RIVERSIDE QUINT The Quintuple Combination — or “Quint” — is the Swiss Army Knife of fire trucks. As its numerical name implies, the versatile “quint” combines five basic types[…]

    Read more
    Aerial Ladder Trucks – Part 4

    Aerial Ladder Trucks – Part 4

    THE “JUNIOR” AERIAL Two basic types of aerial ladder trucks dominated the North American fire service for most of the 20th century – the tractor-trailer tillered type with rear steering,[…]

    Read more
    Aerial Ladder Trucks – Part 3

    Aerial Ladder Trucks – Part 3

    “THE PIRSCH” The Second World War was finally over, and Windsor was again basking in peacetime prosperity. Because it had been an important centre for war production, with several major[…]

    Read more
    Aerial Ladder Trucks - Part 2

    Aerial Ladder Trucks – Part 2

    By the mid-1930s — twenty-five years after it had been delivered — Windsor’s first aerial ladder truck was clearly showing its age. Built in 1910, the W. E. Seagrave 85-foot[…]

    Read more
    Aerial Ladder Trucks – Part 1

    Aerial Ladder Trucks – Part 1

    Over a period of seventy-two years, the Windsor Fire Department acquired a total of nine conventional aerial ladder trucks – seven purchased by the city and two inherited as the[…]

    Read more
    Windsor's City Service Ladder Trucks

    Windsor’s City Service Ladder Trucks

    Before there were aerial ladder trucks and firefighting elevating platforms, there was the City Service Ladder Truck. Visualize, if you can, an aerial truck without the aerial ladder. Also sometimes[…]

    Read more
    “Old Mike” – Windsor’s First Motor Pumper

    “Old Mike” – Windsor’s First Motor Pumper

    Purchased in 1914, Windsor’s first motor-driven pumper was also one of the first automobile pumping engines placed in service by a Canadian fire department. Toronto did not acquire first motor[…]

    Read more
    Old Mike 2

    Old Mike 2

    Engine No. 2 was the pride of the Windsor Fire Department for the next five years — until it was displaced as our showpiece downtown pumper by the W.F.D.’s first[…]

    Read more
    The Elcombe

    The Elcombe

    You’ve seen it in parades and at other community events, and perhaps you’ve even ridden on it — but what the heck is the Elcombe, anyway? All firefighters recognize such[…]

    Read more
    Hose No. 1

    Hose No. 1

    Perhaps the least used piece of front-line motor fire apparatus in Windsor Fire & Rescue Service history was a barely-remembered, single-purpose hose truck purchased during the Second World War. It[…]

    Read more
    • Home
    • FAQ
      • Calling 911
      • Consumer Fireworks
      • Display Fireworks
      • Pyrotechnic Special Effects Fireworks
      • Smoke Alarms
      • Windsor Alerts
      • Miscellaneous
    • Links
    • Divisions
      • Administration
        • Meet Our Team
        • Chief Stephen Laforet
        • Organization Chart
      • Apparatus / Equipment
        • Apparatus Types
        • Equipment
        • Mechanic Certifications
        • Apparatus Locations
      • Communications
      • Emergency Management
      • Fire & Rescue
        • Fire Stations
        • Medical Response
        • After the Fire
        • In the Line of Duty
        • Padre’s Corner
        • Prayers, Creeds & Thoughts
        • Co-op Students
      • Investigation
      • Prevention / Education
      • Training
    • Contact Us
    • Site Map
    • Fire Prevention
      • Fire Prevention Week
        • Sparky’s Weekly Challenge
      • Fire Safety Plan Templates
      • Information Requests & Applications
      • Lock Box Program
      • Smoke Alarm/Carbon Monoxide Alarm Information
      • Important Ontario Fire Code Information
      • Fire Prevention Videos
        • Smoke Alarm Videos
        • Holiday Entertaining Videos
        • Fireworks Safety Videos
        • Home Sprinkler Videos
        • Burn Prevention Videos
        • Fire Safety for Older Adults Videos
        • Home Fire Safety Inspection Videos
        • B-B-Q Safety Videos
        • College & University Fire Safety Videos
        • Smoking Safety Videos
        • Electrical Safety Videos
        • Home Heating Safety Videos
        • Candle Safety Videos
        • Escape Planning Videos
        • Cooking Safety Videos
        • No Time to Spare Videos
        • Battery Safety Videos
    • Essex County Fire Services
    • Blog
    • WFRS History
      • WFRS Apparatus Histories
      • Windsor Fire Stations Histories
      • Firefighting Traditions
      • Historic Windsor Fires
      • Miscellaneous History Articles
    • Public Education
      • Building Owners
      • Carbon Monoxide Information
      • Child/Youth Fire Safety
      • COPE – Care Outreach and Prevention for Everyone
      • Fire Safety & Fall Prevention for Older Adults
      • General Fire Safety Issues
      • High-Rise Fire Safety
      • Home Fire Safety
      • Outdoor Fire Safety
      • Smoke Alarm Information
      • Sprinklers
      • Translated Materials
        • English
        • Arabic
        • Chinese – Simplified
        • Chinese – Traditional
        • French
        • Khmer
        • Korean
        • Portuguese
        • Punjabi
        • Spanish
        • Urdu
        • Vietnamese
      • When Disaster Strikes
    • Privacy Policy
    • Emergency Preparedness
      • Emergency Preparedness Guide
    • Home
    • WFRS History
    • WFRS Apparatus Histories
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Flickr
  • RSS Feed
    • Our Current Programs

      COPE - Caring Outreach Program and Education
      Interested in a career of Firefighting?
    • Latest Tweet

      Tweets by @WindsorFire1
    • Flickr Feed

      4049 - Flood Response Trailer3034- Urban Search & Rescue Truck4048 - Engine 64037 – Fire/Police Command Post4039 – Hazmat 13024 – Fire Special Ops Vehicle for Hazmat4047 - Emergency Supply Unit (ESU)3027 (Fire Investigation Van)4043
    • Home
    • Translated Materials
    • FAQ
    • Links
    • Contact Us
    • Site Map

    City of Windsor | © 2018 WindsorFire.com | Website created by: WebPlanet.ca