Shop No. 1085 was a combination water tower and City Service truck. The mast could be
raised to a height of nearly 65 feet above street level and the ladders carried ranged
from "Baby Bangors" to a 50 foot Bangor, comparable to the amount carried by
City Service Trucks.
Water Tower Truck 24 responded to alarms as a City Service Truck and on
special calls as a Water Tower. It was kept in active service until late 1944 when the
constant depletion of the Fire Department personnel, due to the late war, forced the
department to disband this company. The main reason prompting this action was that a City
Service Truck proved to be inadequate for a first alarm Truck Company assignment in
industrial areas and the lace of necessary manpower required to operate the Water Tower as
a separate company. In 1945, Shop No. 1085 was replaced by a Seagrave 85 foot Aerial
Truck, and the Water Tower was placed in reserve, responding with a skeleton crew to
special calls.
After the cessation of hostilities and our manpower increased by the appointment of new
firemen, it was decided to leave the Seagrave Aerial at 24's and to remodel Shop No. 1085
into a modern up-to-date Water Tower, without ladders, to respond as a fully-manned
company in the high value district.
The Water Tower was sent to the Fire Department shops where the conversion was made. At
the shops, all ladders were removed from the apparatus and a metal deck was placed on the
bed of the truck where the forcible entry equipment was carried and the mast, which
heretofore couldn't be lowered to a complete horizontal position, was lowered to give
better vision to the Tillerman. Two permanently mounted turrets were added. One just aft
of the turntable, the other on the Tiller platform to the left of the Tillerman. A
portable deluge set was installed in the center of the truck bed and intake manifolds were
built to supply the turrets.
Although the mast is still raised and lowered manually, the locking device has been
vastly improved. The former method of relying upon a friction type brake applied to the
mast cable drum has been eliminated and in its place a double ratchet lock has been
devised. The double ratchet allows the tower to be locked at any vertical height securing
the mast so that it will not extend while under pressure nor lower by gravity. Due to a
new and ingenious method of using a double pin lick for the turntable, the mast may be
operated in a horizontal position, if desired.
While the tower nozzle is being operated on fires in upper stories, out of reach of
Wagon Batteries and hand lines, the portable deluge set and the turrets can be used
simultaneously on fires involving lower floors.
The job of remodeling and testing Shop No. 1085 is now completed and what is
considered, by the Chief Officers of the Los Angeles Fire Department, to be the finest
designed Water Tower Truck in this country is now ready for service. At the present time,
it is stored at Engine Company 19 awaiting assignment to Headquarters as Water Tower Co.
No.3. When placed into service, Water Tower 3, will be manned by a Captain, two
Auto-Firemen and the necessary amount of Firemen to efficiently operate this apparatus.