Guardians of The City SFFD Home Page - San Francisco Fire Department Museum

Single Companies:

 

Sand Wagon 1 & Pollution Control Unit
San Francisco Fire Department

Organized 1963

Location:
1963   Organized and assigned to the quarters of Engine Company No. 15, 2150 California Street
1965   Relocated to the quarters of Engine Company No. 2, 460 Bush Street
1970   June 18th, relocated to the quarters of Engine Company No. 3, 1067 Post Street
1974   March 11th, relocated to the quarters of Engine Company No. 31, 441 - 12th Avenue
1977   Re-designated as the POLLUTION CONTROL UNIT
1977   Relocated to the quarters of Engine Company No. 8, 36 Bluxome Street
1985   Relocated to the quarters of Engine Company No. 29, 299 Vermont Street
1994   March 1st, relocated to the quarters of Engine Company No. 36, 109 Oak Street
1995   February 9th, relocated to the quarters of Engine Company No. 22, 1290 - 16th Avenue
2000   March 23rd, relocated to the quarters of Engine Company No. 20, 285 Olympia Way

Apparatus:
1963 - 1967
PC-1    1938 Ford closed-cab Express Truck
                        Engine: Ford 6-cylinder, 120 HP
                        1963: converted from Foam Wagon (FW-1) to a Sand Truck.  The truck bed was stocked with 5-gallon buckets of sand for
                         controlling fuel spills.  Shop number changed to PC-1
                        Upon a call of alarm for the Sand Wagon, it was manned by a member of the home, or next closest available, Engine Company.
                        When it was necessary to re-fill the sand buckets, either the probationary, or the junior member of the company was assigned
                        to drive the unit to Ocean Beach where they would shovel sand into the 5 gallon buckets.

1967 - 1977
PC-2    1952 Chevrolet 1 ½ ton Truck
848                  Engine: G.M.C. 6-cylinder, 130 HP
                        1967: converted from Auxiliary Engine Co. No. 15.  Hale pump, ladder rack, and hose-bed divider removed.  Stocked with
                         5-gallon  buckets of sand from PC-1 for control of hazardous spills.
                        1970: Shop number changed to 848

1977 - 1989
825      1955 American LaFrance "700" Series
Registration #9401
                        Engine: American LaFrance V-12, 275 HP
                        1977: conversion from a Rescue Company to a Pollution Unit using the equipment from the 952 Chevrolet, PC-2 (#848) for
                       Control of hazardous spills.  In addition to sand buckets, and this unit carried sacks of sawdust.

Combination Foam Unit-Pollution Control Units

1989 - July 1996
887      1989 Ford "C-8000" tilt-cab stake-sided flat-bed truck with a "Flipaway" hydraulic tail-gate  
                        Engine: Caterpillar diesel, 210 HP
                        1989: Stocked with all equipment from Foam Unit, shop #868 and all equipment from Pollution Control Unit, shop #825.

July 1996 - Present (November 2009)
566      1973 Ward LaFrance triple combination Engine
                        Registration #80879
                        Engine: Detroit Diesel V-8 type 33, 350 HP
                        1996: converted from an Engine to a combination Foam Unit-Pollution Control Unit and equipped with all foam and pollution control equipment from the 1989 Ford, shop #887.

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