Fire Engines

by Rob Leicester Wagner

Fire engines are images of vibrancy. Get to know the vehicle that heroes ride and come away with a deeper appreciation for the people who risk their lives to help save ours in Fire Engines .

Fire Engines is a comprehensive history of these extraordinary vehicles. From the earliest models, which chugged along under steam power at fifteen miles per hour (24kph) and carried three hundred gallons (1,135.5 liters) of water, to the most recent multipurpose engines with 350-horsepower diesel engines and pumping speeds of up to two thousand gallons (7,570 liters) per minute, this book traces each stage of the fire engine's evolution.
In addition to the major makes such as Ahrens-Fox, Mack, and Seagrave, smaller fire engine manufacturers such as Stutz, Buffalo, and Obenchain-Boyer receive throrough treatments. Sidebars cover such topics as women firefighters, the effects of the two world wars on fire-fighting techniques, and the bitter controversy that erupted when some manufacturers began delivering fire engines painted bright lime green instead of the traditional red (the green was said to be more visible). Finally a comprehensive glossary provides definitions of unfamiliar fire-fighting terms such as "firebrand" and "end pumper."

Hardcover

First published October 1, 1996

About the author

Rob Leicester Wagner is a veteran newspaper reporter and editor. He began his journalism career in 1974 reporting for his hometown weekly in Sierra Madre, Calif., and for 30 years worked for Southern California suburban daily newspapers. He covered urban affairs in the 1970s and immigration issues, the police beat and legal affairs in the 1980s and early 1990s. He rose through the reporting and editor ranks to become managing editor of a daily newspaper. He also maintained a free-lance career as a regular contributor for true crime publications, numerous automotive magazines and the Los Angeles Daily Journal, a legal newspaper.

Since 2004 Wagner has been reporting on politics, social issues and religion from Saudi Arabia. He was managing editor of the English-language Saudi Gazette in Jeddah, and later held the same position at the Arab News. As an independent journalist he writes for The Arab Weekly and the International Business Times, which are both based in London. He also writes for Thomson Reuters and Lonely Planet.

Wagner has authored more than 20 books on a wide range of topics, including automotive history, municipal architecture, and Southern California and film history. His latest book, "Hollywood Bohemia: The Roots of Progressive Politics in Rob Wagner's Script (Janaway, 2016)," traces the socialist politics of Hollywood's only leftist film magazine, published by his great-grandfather Rob Wagner, during cinema's Golden Age.

Wagner continues to reside in Saudi Arabia.