By Bob Vaccaro
For those newcomers to the fire service who are interested in fire apparatus history, I have decided, with the permission of Editor Chris Mc Loone, to present a monthly look back on past fire truck manufacturers.
This month, I start with John Bean, which began operations way back in 1884 as the Bean Spray Company in Los Gatos, California.
Bean originally produced products for the agricultural industry and the name was later changed in 1915 to the John Bean Division of the Food Machinery and Chemical Corporation. In that year the manufacturing plant was relocated to San Jose, California, and a new plant sprung up in Lansing, Michigan.
Sometime during the late 1930s an orchard farmer used his John Bean sprayer to extinguish a fire in a neighbor’s home. When the story was passed onto company management, development of the John Bean High Pressure fog firefighting pump and nozzle got its start.
The John Bean Firefighting high pressure firefighting system produced 800-pounds per square inch (psi) at the pump with 600-psi at the specially manufactured nozzle. Using this nozzle and system, a single firefighter could handle a hose line, which was the size of a booster line, and a specially-designed shotgun style nozzle to extinguish a fire.
The high-pressure fog was actually little droplets of water that were expelled through this nozzle and caused water vapor due to the heat of the fire, turning into steam. This, in turn, required little water supply.
Trust me, having been exposed to this system in my own volunteer fire department, it did what it was supposed to. And being the nozzle man, it packed quite a punch. However, it did not produce a great volume of water. And I wonder with the change in building materials and contents of today’s world, would it still be a major player?
Having said that, John Bean became a major player in the fire apparatus manufacturing business. John Bean primarily built its own bodies and used commercial chassis.
In 1966, the operation was moved to Tipton, Indiana and again in 1986 to Orlando, Florida. Its name was changed to FMC. At one time, the large corporation had 39,000 employees in 128 manufacturing plants around the world.
In the early 1980s, aside from fire apparatus, it manufactured equipment for defense, chemical, construction, and petroleum. In 1978, it purchased fire apparatus manufacturer Van Pelt to have a manufacturing plant on the west coast.
FMC produced all types of fire apparatus from skid mount units and 100-foot aerial platforms built with Memco, Grove, and even Ladder Towers Incorporated-produced ladders.
FMC was the first manufacturer to purchase a new cab from former ex-employees of the Diamond Reo company, which started its own manufacturing company later known as Spartan. The Spartan CF-100 was built with a John Bean body. It had a 2,700-square-inch windshield, and it was built with a Ford L model chassis with a custom cab. The chassis was available with several diesel and gas options for engines. This cab was known as the FMC Custom Cab line that had driver and officer in the front and a rear-facing bench seat.
The first of these units was delivered to Covington, Ohio in 1975, then sold to Chester Hill Hose Company in Phillipsburg, Pennsylvania and then sold back to Spartan who refurbed it.
The last known unit was delivered to Blairsville, Pennsylvania. In the spring of 1990, after 45 years, FMC Fire Apparatus was shut down due to financial reasons.
Like most fire apparatus manufacturers, John Bean and FMC had an interesting beginning and past. Bean and FMC served the fire apparatus industry well with a unique product that lasted a long time.
BOB VACCARO has more than 40 years of fire service experience. He is a former chief of the Deer Park (NY) Fire Department. Vaccaro has also worked for the Insurance Services Office, the New York Fire Patrol, and several major commercial insurance companies as a senior loss-control consultant. He is a life member of the IAFC.
