1915 Ford Model T American LaFrance Chemical Engine

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At the turn of the 20th century, fire departments began to use motorized fire trucks. Ford Motor Company built Model T truck chassis which they sold to various manufacturers, including American La France, who in turn outfitted them with fire truck bodies. In 1915, American La France built 22 of their Type A Chemical Engines on Model T Chassis. Today, of one of these, #F107, is owned by Wes Melo of Roseburg, Oregon. The second oldest Chemical Engine still in existence in America originally came from Lynnfield, Massachusetts where it began its colorful history.

A Gift from the Owner of a "House of Ill Repute"

This 1915 Ford Model T American La France Chemical Engine was one of two purchased by the owner of a brothel in Lynnfield. She saw an ad for this fire truck in the Saturday Evening Post and decided she wanted to do something good for her community. Since the town was bisected by railroad tracks, she felt it would be best to purchase two of the Chemical Engines, one for each side of town. After ordering them, she went to the town's council, and one section of the town did not want anything purchased with her "tainted" money. So they rejected one of the two trucks. #F106 was kept by the Lynnfield Fire Department, which still owns it today, and #F107 was shipped via train to El Paso, Texas.

Serving the Las Cruces Volunteer Fire Department

From El Paso, it was taken to the Las Cruces Volunteer Fire Department in New Mexico, where it became the fire department's fire motorized fire apparatus. The 1915 Ford Model T American La France Chemical Engine served the Las Cruces Volunteer Fire Department for approximately 20 years before it was sent to the city's scrap yard. In 1937, Joe Melendrez, a volunteer firefighter with the Las Cruces VFD rescued it from the scrap yard by purchasing it from the town. Malendres kept it for a little over sixty years, selling it to Wes Melo in 1999.

Frame Up Restoration

When Melo purchased the truck it was in need of a major restoration, and over the next 9 years he restored it from the frame up, returning it to the same condition it was in when it rolled out of the factory almost 100 years earlier. Melo completely rebuilt the truck's four cylinder, 20 horse power engine. He also restored the double tanks, which held 25 gallons of water each.

Explaining how the double chemical tanks worked, Melo says that brass canisters of sodium bicarbonate and sulfuric acid were carried on the truck, and when they arrived at the scene of a fire, the firefighters added the sodium bicarbonate to the water tank. They then added the sulfuric acid, which produced carbon dioxide gas, creating the high pressure in the tank needed to charge the hose with water. When one tank was expended, they would close the valve on it, open the valve on the second tank and invert it to mix the chemicals. When both tanks were empty firefighters would refill them with water from buckets, recharge the acid containers in each tank, add the sodium bicarbonate, seal the tanks and charge the line.

In his restoration process, Melo refurbished the truck's 2 electric headlights and 2 kerosene oil side lamps. He had to completely replace its rear kerosene tail light. The truck also has two fire department lanterns and a mounted locomotive style brass bell. All of the fire equipment on the truck is original, except for the ladder, which is a replica of the original. The wheels are Model T wheels with black wall tires; however, the truck was originally outfitted with red Model T wheels and white wall tires. Melo does have the white walls and puts them on the truck when he takes it to car shows. He prefers to use the black walls when he is not showing the truck because the white wall tires were meant for dirt roads and not asphalt.

With its rich and colorful history, this 1915 Ford Model T American La France Chemical Engine is a crowd pleaser wherever it goes.

To watch a video on the grandfather to this fire apparatus, a 1902 American Steamer Engine, click here.