The Snorkel Fire Equipment Company was established by the Pitman Manufacturing Company to sell[1] fire service versions of the company's aerial platforms. Snorkel exited the fire service market in 1998. Today as Snorkel International, the company manufactures aerial work platforms and work lifts for the construction and industrial markets. [2]
Snorkel's three best known fire service products, the Snorkel, Squrt and Tele-Squrt are currently available through Smeal subsidiary LTC.
History[]
The Pitman Manufacturing Company was founded in 1949 by childhood friends Art Moore and Ray Pitman to build hydraulic lift equipment. In 1958, the Chicago Fire Department trialed a new aerial platform based on one of Pitman's articulating boom platforms. Originally called the "giraffe", it then gained the nickname "snorkel" and Pitman began to receive orders from other fire departments. It 1959 Pitman established the “Snorkel Fire Equipment Company” to sell fire service models of their aerial platforms.
1963 Pierce / Snorkel aerial
In 1960, Crown became the west coast distributor of Snorkel using many on its Firecoach chassis. Snorkel would also work closely with Pierce Manufacturing. Pierce had been used to build the first snorkel equipped fire apparatus, and continued to receive orders from Snorkel through 1964. By the mid 1960s, direct sales of snorkel equipment had increased to the point that the company was no longer involved in the sale of complete fire apparatus.
In 1963, the Snorkel Fire Equipment Company was sold to Pitman co-founder Art Moore and production moved to St Joseph, Missouri.
In 1968, the company introduced a new product, the Squrt. This was a lightweight articulating boom. Instead of a platform, the Squrt had a remote controlled master stream nozzle at the tip. Also in 1968, A-T-O Corporation (previously Figgie International) acquired Snorkel, with Art Moore remaining as president until his retirement in 1991. A-T-O was at that time the parent company of American LaFrance. Despite the shared parent, Snorkel remained independent and continued to offer its products to all interested builders. Soon after this acquisition, American LaFrance ceased manufacture of its own proprietary articulating boom and began using Snorkel products.
In 1969, King-Seagrave Ltd. became Snorkel's Canadian distributor. In 1972, Snorkel introduced a new lightweight telescoping ladder with a remotely operated master stream nozzle at the tip. This would be named the Tele-Squrt and would become the company's best selling product. In the late 1970s, Snorkel began to diversify adding aerial platforms intended for the industrial and construction markets.
In 1997, A-T-O Corp was acquired by OmniQuip International Inc. who subsequently sold the fire and rescue apparatus product lines to Freightliner, to focus fully on the aerial lifts division. In 1998, American LaFrance purchased the fire service division of Snorkel bringing the two back together. The Snorkel line would be absorbed into American LaFrance's Aerials Division in 2008 along with aerial ladder builders LTI and Aerial Innovations.
In 2014, American LaFrance went out of business. The Smeal Fire Apparatus Company purchased American LaFrance's Aerials Division and now offers the Snorkel, Squrt and TeleSqurt through their subsidiary Ladder Tower Company (LTC).
Products[]
- Snorkel - An articulating boom with a semi-enclosed platform on the end. The platform is provided with one or more master stream nozzles.
- Squrt - An articulating boom with a remotely operated master stream nozzle at the tip.
- Tele-Squrt - A telescoping boom with a lightweight ladder. A remotely operated master stream nozzle is mounted at the tip.
Sources[]
- Barrett, Paul R. Elevating Platforms. Hudson, WI: Iconografix, 2006. ISBN 1583881646
- McCall, Walter M.P. The Evolution of Aerial Fire Apparatus. Hudson, WI: Iconografix, 2009. ISBN 9781583882528
- McCall, Walter M.P. Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Fire Engine Manufacturers. Hudson, WI: Iconografix, 2007. ISBN 1583882359
- Moore, Arthur My Story. United States: Snorkel, 2016.
- Company promotional literature and advertising