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In the foreground is the firewall
and fuel tank of old Engine 31. In the background, resting on the seat, is a photo of an LA
County REO in service.
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Of the four different makes of apparatus
first purchased for the fire protection districts that eventually
would form the Los Angeles County Fire Department, the REO
Obenchain-Boyer rigs were the least expensive and thus the
least powerful. They were purchased for the less affluent
districts that could not afford more expensive engines. We
suspect our REO was purchased for the Clearwater-Hynes district
(Engine 31). We hope its identity will be confirmed during
restoration.
Seven REOs were purchased during the
first two years after the fire protection districts were formed.
They served in the following districts: Walnut Park (Engine
24), Puente (Engine 26), Temple (Engine 27), Flintridge (Engine
28), Baldwin Park (Engine 29), Artesia (Engine 30), and Clearwater-Hynes
(Engine 31). These engines actually were the product of two
companies. The chassis and running gear came from the REO
company of Lansing, Michigan (REO stood for the initials of
the company’s founder, Ransom E. Olds, who was also the
namesake of the Oldsmobile). The REO Model F chassis was then
sent to the Obenchain/Boyer company for addition of firefighting
equipment, including a Hale 350 gpm pump.
During World War II, due to a shortage
of parts, the four-cylinder F-head REO engines were replaced
with six-cylinder Chevrolet powerplants. The REO in our collection
is in need of total restoration. When the time and funds are
available to begin the restoration, we’ll have some important
in-house expertise. CLAFMA president Paul Schneider and his
brother Howard have already restored a 1922 REO pumper, and
Vice President Jim Page currently is restoring a 1924 REO
chemical/hose wagon (the City of Monterey Park’s first
fire apparatus).
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