1973 Seagrave Pumper P-Series

Founded by ladder builder Frederic Seagrave in 1881, the Seagrave Corporation would go on to be the longest continuous builder of fire apparatus in the United States. The first complete apparatus they manufactured would be horse-drawn ladder and chemical wagons and water towers before entering the motorized fire apparatus market in 1907. In 1908, Seagrave exhibited their complete line of aerial ladder trucks, pumpers and chemical cars at the convention of the International Association of Fire Engineers in Columbus, Ohio, then home to the Seagrave factory.

Through the first half of the 20th century, the Seagrave Corporation acquired many of their suppliers and eventually had control over most of the major components used in the building of their apparatus. In the 1930s, Seagrave introduced the canopy cab and in 1936 the city of Detroit purchased the first Seagrave Safety Sedan cab where the canopy cab extended over the entire body length of the apparatus for the first fully enclosed apparatus in the United States. Starting in 1959, Seagrave would join American LaFrance and Crown in offering a cab-forward option with the introduction of their K-series for their engine and aerial ladder apparatus. In the early 1960s, the FWD Corporation acquired Seagrave and by 1963, manufacturing operations were moving to Clintonville, Wisconsin.

This 1973 Seagrave pumper from the City of Benson, Arizona represents Seagrave’s second generation entry into the increasingly competitive cab-forward market of American fire apparatus. This particular cab configuration and related frame was designated the P-Series by Seagrave and served as the chassis to build many pumpers and aerial ladder trucks in addition to specialized apparatus from 1969 to 1982. It is powered by a Detroit Diesel 6V71 with a five speed manual transmission and rated at pumping at least 1250 gallons of water per minute.