L.N. Curtis & Sons

L.N. Curtis & Sons is a large West coast supplier of fire and rescue equipment. The company has offices in Oakland, CA, Seattle, WA and Salt Lake City, UT. The company sold complete fire apparatus from the 1940s to the 1970s.

History
L.N. Curtis was established in 1929 selling resuscitators and other equipment to fire departments. In the late 1940s they became a dealer for Maxim Fire Apparatus. After becoming a dealer for Maxim, the company felt there was a market for lower priced apparatus built on commercial truck chassis. The began building apparatus in 1948, but by the 1950s they were outsourcing the work to local builders. The Earl Sherman & Company of Oakland, CA and the George Heiser Body Company of Seattle, WA become their primary builders. The Heiser built equipment is often badged Curtis-Heiser. L.N. Curtis exited the fire apparatus market in the late 1970s.

Notable users
The Seattle Fire Department bought many Curtis-Heiser pumpers in the 1960s and early 1970s, most built on Kenworth Chassis. The Oakland Fire Department bought several L.N. Curtis pumpers using the Ford C series chassis in the early 1970s.