The History Of Pleasantville Ladder Trucks

[x635 4,066]

Before Pleasantville acquired Tower Ladder 5 in 1995, what did they operate? I found this photo of a Mack/Baker Aerialscope on eBay, but can't seem to find any more info. A friend thinks they operated an American Lafrance stick. Anybody have more info?

(Photo credit: Unknown)

[ex-commish 490]

When I joined Pleasantville FD in 1980 they had an American Lafrance ladder truck still in service I am not totally sure on the year but I believe it was a late 1940 open cab 75' stick.

[ronfrehm 161]

Pleasantville's Daniel P Hays Engine followed by Pioneer Hook and Ladder during the Mamaroneck fire parade in 1988. Photo by Ron Frehm

Edited February 2, 2016 by ronfrehm

[ronfrehm 161]

Pleasantville's Pioneer Hook and Ladder in Mamaroneck's annual fire parade in 1988.

[ex-commish 490]

Was the top on the cab added later on? I remember it being open

[x635 4,066]

Thank you Andy for the info, and Ron for always having the pics!

What year was that Scope? Did Pleasantville have both at the same time? When did they get rid of the ALF Ladder? And what did the 1995 Spartan/Aerialscope replace?

[jp103 4]

That was Ladder 39 a 1947 American LaFrance Its stick was 65ft. originally it was an open cab. If memory serves me correctly the cab was added in the late 80's and the beacon light also, to meet the standard of a warning light visible 360 degrees. the siren light used to be mounted up top in the center. The tower ladder was a 1973 - 74 (not sure, Greenville also had one), which was purchased to replace L-39 but when it arrived or while being built it wouldn't fit in the firehouse, so the tower bay was added and then it was decided to keep L-39. the tower in fact responded out of Pocantico Hills firehouse till the addition was done. I remember the old mutual aid run card at County Control having a note to specify aerial or tower ladder when Pleasantville was requested. If you pass Fire Headquarters on Washington Ave. there is a corner stone on the tower bay that will tell you the year.

L-39 was retired in the early 90's.

Don't hold me to all these facts but I'm pretty sure I got it straight Its been a long time

[ex-commish 490]

Was some great times back then

[x635 4,066]

Awesome information jp103! Thank you!

[Pleasantville_165 5]

If you pass Fire Headquarters on Washington Ave. there is a corner stone on the tower bay that will tell you the year.

The year on the stone is 1957, but I think that is the year that the 75 Washington Avenue HQ was built. However, in the Commissioners Room, there is an architect's rendition of the firehouse remodeling that added the Ladder Bay.

[x635 4,066]

Another question from my sponge of a brain, does anyone know what happened to that Mack/Aerialscope?

[Firehawk11 3]

I can tell you that Ladder 39's fate came when it blew a rod or piston pulling out of HQ responding to a call. I was across the street when that loud bang occurred. It was a sad day to see it being hauled off on a flatbed once it pulled back to HQ and sometime later it was realized its day had come.

[x635 4,066]

I was Google-ing just now trying to find out what Chappaqua TL-27 replaced, and I came across this Ladder sitting in front of Pleasantville's HQ. Where does this factor in?

[mfc2257 464]

On 2/18/2016 at 8:10 PM, x635 said:

I was Google-ing just now trying to find out what Chappaqua TL-27 replaced, and I came across this Ladder sitting in front of Pleasantville's HQ. Where does this factor in?

 

The rig in the picture was borrowed if I recall.... Havestraw comes to mind.  TL-27 in Chappaqua, replaced a 106ft rear-mount on what I think was a Hahn, or Oren chassis that was designated Ladder 3.

[Firehawk11 3]

That Ladder 1 rig  actually served its life in Massachusetts (town name in gold leaf on the cab) and was rented from some dealer after a year of PVFD not having its own aerial. That was the time period between its current KME truck and the saga of the 94 Spartan/Aerialscope demo/ lemon it had to take out service and decide what to do with. That POS truck was eventually rebuilt by Seagrave and sold as stated in another posting here.
 

It should also be noted that Thornwood handled the vast majority of all aerial calls in the village until this rental was placed into service.  TVFD will always be appreciated for that!

Edited February 23, 2016 by Firehawk11

[psyanide 11]

16 hours ago, mfc2257 said:

 

The rig in the picture was borrowed if I recall.... Havestraw comes to mind.  TL-27 in Chappaqua, replaced a 106ft rear-mount on what I think was a Hahn, or Oren chassis that was designated Ladder 3.

 

Chappaqua FD Ladder 3 as a 1983 Hahn.  It found a nice second life though!!  One of our ex-chiefs (Pasquale) retired to Raton N.M. in the early 1990's and became a chief out there.  He or his department outright bought Ladder 3 and shipped it themselves.  They used it for a few years, though not sure it is still in service.  From 1999 - 2002 it had some increasingly expensive maintenance issues.  We had to have some of the parts custom-made for it, which cost an arm and a leg.

[psyanide 11]

I found some pics of Chappaqua's old Ladder 3.  I am using links rather than raw pics.  The links are very light-weight, no ads, and IF you're interested, you can use it to go "up" to a gallery of CFD's 2002 Open House. 

officer side front

officer side rear

officer side front corner, arial

front

driver side front corner