Fire Apparatus - Tankers

Tankers supply water to remote sites as well as serve as a pumper. Communities with heavily wooded areas, farms, or other locations lacking the normal urban (big city) fire water supply systems normally have tankers in their fleet of fire fighting equipment. Last updated July 6, 2002

I found this highly polished lime green water tanker in Avondale, PA recently. This is a 1997 4 Guys/Peterbilt and is called upon to deliver water to the nearby farms that may lack fire protection hydrants. This part of Pennsyvania is famous for mushroom farms thus the artwork on the trucks door showing a mushrooms growing on a pile of cow manure, another product from the many dairy farms in the area. The station on highway 41 also has a pumper that I would like to get before I leave the area.

Another of Avondale, PA's nice looking lime green tankers. Avondale is located in the middle of farm country in southeast Pennsylvania.

This particular tanker belongs to Anne Arundel county, Maryland and was housed with an American LaFrance belongs to the Annapolis Fire Department. This is a 1996 Freightliner.

Bishopville, SC is the owner of this 1979 Mack/Atlas tanker. Tanker 11 is part of the Lee County Rural Fire Department.

Blades (DE) Volunteer Fire Company's 1979 Peterbilt with a 1952 trailer.
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Bridgeville (DE) Volunteer Fire Company operates this 1995 Spartan/S&S tanker.
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Located in the beautiful fishing village of Bowers, Delaware you can find Station 40. Engine 40-6 is a 1988 Pemfab tanker. Lots of the stations have tankers due to the lack of fire water supply lines in the rural areas.
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Here's another view of the Bowers Beach (DE) 1988 Pemfab tanker, engine 40-6.
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A 2001 KME tanker is stationed at Station 25 in Batesburg-Leesville, South Carolina.

Chapin, SC is a small community just north and outside of Columbia, SC. This is their 1988 Ford F-800 tanker.

I love the gray over red. This tanker is a 1990 Pierce. Cochranville Fire Company in Pennsylvania also has some other very nice equipment posted on this site.

In all by years of photographing fire apparatus I have never come across an American LaFrance tanker and this is a very unique piece. I do not know if Columbia (SC) modified this one into a tanker to serve the Lower Richland (county) area or not. This is a 1985 model and even has checker plate on the roof.
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The Columbia (SC) Fire Department provides drivers for stations out of the city limits, but still within the county of Richland. Tanker, T-29 is assigned to Station 29 in the Congaree Run area of the county. Their tanker is a 1995 Quality/International. Most county stations have similar equipment, a tanker, pumper, and a brush truck or rescue.
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Delta (PA)-Cardiff (MD) Fire Company is located on the PA/MD stateline. They have several paint schemes on their equipment including white with black stripes, black and white with gold, and this all black 1989 Ford/S&S tanker seen here.

Truly a "Super Tanker" as stated on this 1994 Mack/Maxim tanker, T-75 seen here in Ellendale, DE and operated by the Ellendale Volunteer Fire Company.
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Another beautiful rig belonging to the Singerly Volunteer Fire Company of Elkton, Maryland. This 3000 gallon tanker is a 1997 Kenworth/4-Guys rig nick named the milk truck with its polished tank and white colors.

The day I happen across this 1994 Simon-Duplex tanker I remarked to the Farmington (DE) fire company chief that I had never seen a tanker like this one with a regular apparatus cab on it. Later the same day I came across two more very similiar in appearance. The rear axle turns the opposite direction of the front wheels when the tanker is turned. This is to allow the tanker to turn around sharp or tight turns.
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Felton (DE) Volunteer Fire Company is just south of Dover, DE in Kent county. This is their latest addition, a 1997 Pierce tanker, seen here in front of their station in Felton, Delaware.
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The story behind this Frederica (DE) Volunteer Fire Company tanker is that when the 1974 Ford/Fire Cab tanker arrived it was too tall for the station so it was sent back to Ford. The Ford people then decided to lowered the tank, but to maintain the same water capacity the chassie and tank were lengthened a couple of feet, thus the tanker became a stretch model and very unique.
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I don't think I would like to be standing in front of this tanker when pumping at a scene. Several other tankers in the Federalsburg, Maryland area have their pump and connections on the nose of their apparatus.

This is one of several shots I took of the Greenwood Volunteer Fire Company located in Greenwood, Delaware along highway US-13. This water tanker is just a sampling of some of the nicest equipment I have come across in my travels. See some other Greenwood equipment on my Rescue and Pumper pages.
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This beautiful and spotless Mack tanker belongs to Gumboro (DE) Volunteer Fire Company, Station 79 in Sussex county and is seen here at the Delaware fire convention parade.
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One of the more obscure fire companies in Amish country in southeast PA is the Hand In Hand Fire Company in Bird In Hand, PA, which is in East Lampeter TWP, confused? Leave it to Kodak to mess up my roll of film that had their pumper on it. Well this is a 1990 Autocar/Allegany, an interesting rig.

For you railroad buffs, Harrington, DE Station 50 is located right next to the Conrail mainline in Delaware. Station 50's tanker is seen here in front of the new station 1 in Harrington, DE.
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A very unique tanker is this 1990 Spartan/4-Guys model. Note the pump controls on the front end of the tanker. This tanker is owned by the Hartly Volunteer Fire Company in Hartly, DE.
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Just consolidated with the Hempfield (PA) Fire Department is this 1997 Peterbilt/S&S tanker. Helpfield Fire Department's equipment is red/white so it will be interesting to see what becomes of this truck. My vote is to keep it blue and repaint the others.

One of Hochessin's (DE) teen volunteers just finished cleaning this Saulsbury Gladiator tanker just before I took the pictures. He did a nice job, too bad he has about 5 other trucks to do yet. Maybe the chief will let you use the Hummer to get some wax from the auto parts store.
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Hopkins, South Carolina is a small rural community just outside the Columbia city limits. Drivers are from the Columbia fire department and fire fighter members of the company are volunteers in Hopkins. This is their 1992 Quality/International tanker.
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