Rural communities purchased rigs like this for use by their fire departments. Built on a Ford chassis with the famous “flat head” V-8 engine, with a hose bed, booster tank and pump by the Pirsch Fire Apparatus Company, the rig was both capable and affordable. It could be repaired at any Ford dealership and could easily be driven by anybody who could drive an automobile.
Its 500 gpm rotary pump, 600 feet of large diameter hose, and 100 feet of booster hose for quick attack gave it about one half of the capabilities of a first line American La France or Seagrave, but it was adequate for most fires.
During the Great Depression many large departments bought rigs like this to supplement their first line engines, which were too expensive to replace. Similar rigs were built by many manufacturers on a wide variety of chassis by Studebaker, Chevrolet, Dodge, International, REO, Brockway, and other truck makers.
This rig served the town of Slinger, Wisconsin from 1935 until the early 1960s, when it was donated to the Hall of Flame by the Slinger Fire Department. It was restored by Don Hale in 2002.
