Wellsville's Fire Apparatus History
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	This is the first motorized fire apparatus owned by Wellsville. The truck is a 1913 Commerce made in Detroit, Michigan. It is termed a chemical hose car. The round cylinder under the driver's seat is an over-grown soda acid fire extinguisher. When activated, it fed the small hose located on the reel. In the rear where the men are standing, was where the hose was carried, thus the term chemical hose car. Note that there is no pump on this truck. If water was needed, it was strictly from hydrant pressure. Chief A.W.Phillips is the driver.
	This is Wellsville Fire Department's first pumping engine, a 1927 Seagrave made in Columbus. It was delivered in February of 1927.  It is equipped with a 750 gallon per minute centrifugal pump. Notice that this engine is also equipped with right hand drive. This was a common practice in this era. Chief A.W.Phillips is the driver. This engine can be seen on a staged fire call in the 1937 Wellsville movie that is available on VCR video from the Wellsville Carnegie Library. For those interested, this engine is on display at the Wellsville Historical Society's River Museum.
	This is a very rare factory photo of the 1941 Chevrolet owned by the Wellsville Volunteer Fire Department. The chassis was bought locally at Runyon Chevrolet. The engine was built by the General Fire Truck Company of Detroit. at a cost of just under $ 4,000. Six members of the Department signed a promissory note putting up their homes as collateral to buy this engine. The engine was in service from November 1940 until 1955 when it went on to serve two other fire departments. It was "brought home" and restored by Barry Arbaugh in the 1980's and is now owned by Bob Lloyd.
	Wellsville Fire Department's 1950 Seagrave boasted a twelve cylinder engine and a 750 GPM pump. The open cab was considered a safety feature for better visibility. A special fire levy was passed to buy the $17,000 engine. It was re-powered in the 1980's to extend the service life as a back-up engine. It still exists and is stored in the old fire station.
	The Wellsville Volunteers bought this 1955 International with the body being built by the American Fire Apparatus Co. of Battle Creek, Michigan. It was equipped with a 500 GPM pump and 500 gallon tank. Note the back windshield to protect firemen riding the back step. We affectionately called this the "coal truck". It was sold in 1971 to Empire V.F.D. and its remains are today (2008) rusting away in a mobile home sales back lot.
	This is a 1957 Pirsch 75' aerial that was bought from the Salem Fire Dept. This was Wellsville's first aerial truck. It was in service about two years and the engine gave out. It was decided that it would be too costly to replace the motor and it was scrapped.
	The Volunteer Department bought this 1960 GMC one ton Panel Truck to replace a 1954 Pontiac Station Wagon. This photo was carried in the newspaper. On the left is Earl "Goose" Munday, center rear is Tom Lanam, and right front is Don Miller.
	A 1968 Chevrolet Suburban that was bought from Ideal Chevrolet here in town. It was equipped with a four speed manual transmission and THREE doors.
	This 1968 American LaFrance was bought from Mt .Lebanon,Pa. as an emergency replacement after the 1970 International "blew" it's motor. It was being used on a mutual aid call to East Liverpool at the Modern Glass fire at the time. The LaFrance was equipped with a 1000 GPM pump and a 300 gal tank. It remained in service until the 1996 Freightliner arrived.
	This is Wellsville's 1970 International/Sutphen equipped with a 1000 GPM pump and carried 500 gallons of water. This was considered to be International's custom fire apparatus chassis. This was the first large vehicle to be equipped with an automatic transmission.
	1970 American LaFrance originally saw service at Plymouth Twp.,Michigan. When the truck was built it had a 90' articulating boom with a two man bucket. American LaFrance called this an Aero Chief. Later the boom was removed and replaced with a 100' four section ladder. It also had a 1000 GPM pump and a 300 gallon tank.
	This is the Volunteer's 1971 International / Sutphen. It was equipped with a 750 GPM pump. This engine was sold to Perry Twp. Fire Dept. in 1992, repainted red, and served them for several years.
	1973 Chevrolet ex-Wellsville Police Department
	Wellsville Volunteer Fire Department's 1976 International / Pierce with a 1000 GPM pump and a 1000 gallon tank.
	1979 Chevrolet / Hamerly. This was a good little truck for us, but was underpowered. The chassis was bought from the Mike Turk Agency in East Liverpool.
	This 2000 Freightliner / Emergency One was used as a demonstrator before coming to Wellsville. It was actually made by Saulsbury in Tulley,N.Y. under contract with Emergency One. This engine was sold to a broker which enabled the Department to buy the new Sutphen.

We would like to thank Robert "Bob" Lloyd for sharing his
knowledge and wonderful collection of vintage photos with the WVFD Website.
Bob is a retired Fire Fighter who served our community for 18 years.