The American Fire Apparatus Company, also known as the American Fire Apparatus Division of Collins Industries, was an American fire apparatus builder located in Battle Creek, Michigan, Marshalltown, Iowa, Hutchinson, Kansas and Ball Ground, Georgia.
History[]
The origins of American Fire Apparatus date back to 1922, when Benjamin Barton designed a small gear-driven centrifugal pump that could be attached to the front end of any truck. Patented as the Barton Portable Fire Pump, the American Marsh Pumps division of the American Steam Pump Company began marketing the units as a cheap and effective alternative for small town fire apparatus.
Initially, American Marsh sold only the pumps. However, in 1937, a new division, the American Fire Apparatus Company, was formed to build complete fire apparatus. The trucks were equipped with front-mount or midship Barton pumps and fabricated apparatus bodies. Orders for fire trucks increased substantially after the Second World War and apparatus was delivered under the AFA and Barton names. The company continued to specialize in lower-cost apparatus on commercial chassis for smaller departments, such as their "Plain Jane" series of pumpers. A new plant was opened in Battle Creek in 1948 and a second plant in Marshalltown, Iowa in the mid-1950s.
AFA expanded their offerings somewhat in the 1950s and 1960s with aerial apparatus equipped with Memco and Grove ladders, as well as trucks using custom Cincinnati cabs. In the 1970s, some aerial trucks were built using Snorkel and LTI platforms. American Fire Apparatus was sold to Collins Industries in 1978. The Battle Creek plant was closed and operations moved to Hutchinson, Kansas. Collins sold AFA in 1986 to a new owner who moved the operation to Georgia. Operations there ceased in 1994.
The name American Fire Apparatus was purchased by a Kentucky businessman in 2004. A few trucks were built and delivered to departments in Kentucky and Tennessee before operations ceased in 2006.
Canadian Subsidiary[]
AFA operated a Canadian branch plant, Marsh Pumps (Canada) Ltd. in Stratford, Ontario from 1951 to 1965.
See also[]
Departments operating American apparatus
Sources[]
- McCall, Walter M.P. Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Fire Engine Manufacturers. Hudson, WI: Iconografix, 2009. ISBN 9781583882528