Firetruck_History

A brief history of Prescott Firetrucks.........

Prescott was the first and is the oldest fire department in the state of Arizona. Four earlier firetrucks preceded the 1931 Seagrave firetruck. Below are pictures of some of the earlier firetrucks that were in service to the Prescott citizens.

History of our Seagrave Firetruck

The Prescott Fire Department purchased the new 1931 Seagrave Ladder Truck. It was designated Ladder Truck #1 and served the City of Prescott for 53 years. In 1984 with the acquisition of a new Ladder Truck, the Prescott Antique Auto Club acquired the 1931 Segrave Ladder Truck from the City of Prescott Fire Department for $1.00. Now that PAAC owned the truck, the next hurtle was finding a place to store the 40' firetruck.

Looking for a permanent home.
The first temporary home for Ladder Truck #1 was the Chino Valley Fire Department, however after two years the station was manned so the Seagrave was stored a various club members yards for ten years, then to a building at the former Yavapai County Fair Grounds (now the Prescott Rodeo Grounds). In 2006 the club began construction on the clubhouse. With the completion of our clubhouse in November 2009 Ladder Truck #1 was moved to the clubhouse and restoration began on the truck.

The job of restoration required dismantling the body, removing the paint to bare metal,making several repairs to parts and preparing and painting the truck. Then careful reassembly of all the pieces and parts. The Engine was removed, and a factory correct rebuilt Hercules six-cylinder engine was installed. The pump had been removed in an earlier modification and another one was found and installed. The ladders refurbishing included many new finished coats of marine varnish. Click HERE to read the March 2014 issue of "Hemming's Classic Car" for the story of our fire truck.

1921 Velie Firetruck

1927 American LaFrance Firetruck

Velie and Model T Firetrucks