CapeCodFD.com

[Home] [Features]
 

CAPE COD BRUSH BREAKERS 

~ History of Cape Cod's Unique Forest Firefighting Apparatus ~
Originally posted January 2001 - Completely Rebuilt January 2022
Page Updated March 31, 2022
 

MAIN INDEX PAGE
BRUSH & FOREST FIRE APPARATUS HISTORY

CONTENTS
Start This Page

HISTORY
| The Story of Brush Breakers | By Years | 
 

FIRE DEPARTMENTS
| Barnstable County | The Islands | Plymouth County | More |
 

APPARATUS BY TYPE
| Aircraft | Brush Breakers | Forestry & Patrol | Tankers | More |  
 

FIRES INDEX
| Cape Cod | The Islands | Plymouth County | More |  
 

NEWS & RECENT UPDATES
| News | Recent Updates | More |
 

Town of Barnstable - 1952 Ford Brush Breaker 216 - Osterville

PAGE CONTENTS

Falmouth Fire Tower - Built about 1914 - One of several on Cape Cod
 

01

<PREV     TOP     NEXT>

HISTORY - THE STORY OF BRUSH BREAKERS
           A look back at some of the significant incidents & apparatus

Smoke from a large Cape Cod Forest Fire - May 1965
 

02

<PREV     TOP     NEXT>

Barnstable County Forest Fire Department - 1942 Ford - Brush Breaker No.2
 

03

<PREV     TOP     NEXT>

Edgartown Engine 2 - 1956 Ford/Maynard Brush Breaker
 

04

<PREV     TOP     NEXT>

Nantucket Fire Department

State Brush Breaker 2-5. 1939 Ford - Myles Standish State Forest.
 

05

<PREV     TOP     NEXT>

06

<PREV     TOP     NEXT>

Barnstable County Fire Patrol Plane P-18 - 1950s - 1990s
 

07

<PREV     TOP     NEXT>

Unique Fire Station Ahead Sign - Shawme Crowell State Forest - Sandwich
 

08

<PREV     TOP     NEXT>

1950 - Breaker - 5     - Harwich - Ford/Robinson - 6x6 - 1000 Gal
1951 - Breaker - C12 - Barnstable County No.4 - Ford/Robinson - 700 Gal DEN
1952 - Breaker - 216 - Town of Barnstable - OST - Ford/Starck - 800 Gal
1954 - Breaker - 3     - Chilmark - Ford/Robinson - 750/750
195_ - Breaker - 5     - Plymouth - Manomet - Dodge
195_ - Breaker -        - Plymouth - Dodge
1954 - Breaker - 24   - State Dist 2 - Myles - Ford - Yogi
1955 - Combo  - E2  - Tisbury - Ford/Maxim 500/500
1956 - Breaker - 2     - Edgartown - Ford F800/Maynard 750/800
1957 - Breaker - C15 - Barnstable County No.1 - Ford/Maxim 800 Gal FAL
1957 - Breaker - 250  - Mashpee - No.3 - 1942 Ford - Former County No.1
1957 - Breaker - 253  - Mashpee - No.1 - Inter/Maynard 750/800
1958 - Breaker - C14 - Barnstable County No.2 - Maxim 800 Gal W BARN
1958 - Breaker - No1 - Gay Head - No.1 - 1939 Ford/Robinson 125/1000
1959 - Breaker - E2    - West Tisbury - Ford/Maynard 4x4 750/800
 

2012 - Breaker 128 - Bourne - 1959-71 Kaiser Mil 6x6 Breaker-Tanker
                                (was Brewster 235)
2013 - Breaker 27 - Carver - International-V-Tech
2014 - Breaker 129 - Bourne - 1996 Mil 6x6 Brush Breaker

09

<PREV     TOP     NEXT>

10

<PREV     TOP     NEXT>

11

<PREV     TOP     NEXT>

THIS FEATURE
     The Brush Breaker Feature was one of the first Special Features posted on CapeCodFD.com. It quickly grew to many pages. A few years back, a little website catastrophy resulted in this feature going off line. Rebuilding the feature and doing so in a way that would be more manageable has taken much longer than anticipated.

NAVIGATING
     Part of the rebuild included making it easier to reference particular apparatus or information. Using the Navigation tabs at the top of the page will get you to more specific pages with many photos and history of specific apparatus or departments. 

< PREV  TOP  NEXT>

EARLY FIREFIGHTING
     Prior to the formation of many of the fire departments, brush and forest fires were fought by hand as appointed Forest Wardens in various towns would recruit men to battle the flames.

FIRE TOWERS
     One of the early steps to counter the rapid growth of forest fires was to discover them while they were still small. Fire Towers, elevated observation sites located on the high points across the area, were constructed and staffed to spot smoke from fires as they started. By using a system, observers in a couple fire towers could "line up" a smoke and by crossing the lines provide a fairly good location for fire departments to respond to.

FIRE TRUCKS
     Many communities started out with pickup trucks serving as Forest Fire Patrol Trucks that carried small amounts of water and some hand tools. Some carried water fire extinguishers that could be carried into the woods.

     Communities build fire trucks specifically for forest fire fighting that had larger water tanks and extended length of forestry hose that could be dragged into the woods.

BRUSH BREAKERS
     The early brush breakers were trucks that had steel bars and other protection that enabled the trucks to push over smaller brush and trees to access fires off road. Hundreds of gallons of water, or more, and pumps that could operate while the apparatus drove into or around fires, made brush breakers very effective in quickly reaching fires and putting them out before they could get too large.

     Fires often grew larger than one or two trucks could handle. Cape Cod developed a mutual aid system which could activate many departments and get groups of brush breakers to work on fires together to overcome and control large fires. Often larger fires brought groups of brush breakers from Barnstable County to Plymouth and Bristol County fires, and groups of brush breakers from those counties to fight fires on Cape Cod.

MODERN DAY
     The larger fires seem to have been reduced over the recent decades. Larger populations and early notification of fires have reduced the number of larger fires. Older brush breakers have been retired and in some cases not replaced. The approaches to fighting wild land fires have changed and less brush breakers are employed today than once were. Who knows how future forest fires may affect those communities. Time will tell.

REMEMBERING BRUSH BREAKERS
     No matter the future, the history of Brush Breakers on Cape Cod and in southeastern Massachusetts is an important and unique part of history that is well remembered.

     Enjoy this feature.

     The worst of these fires resulted in a number of firefighters being killed. Those people are remembered in local memorials. Other fires resulted in the destruction and burning of brush trucks. The danger of these fires is difficult to explain to someone who has not experienced them. Fires can move very quickly and erratically with shifting winds.

     Some of the historic fires are documented and shared on these pages.  

BRUSH FIRES
     The term forest fires tends to address the largest of fires. In common local terminology, most of the fires are referred to as brush fires. Brush Breakers, forestry trucks, tanker/tenders, and other apparatus are all part of the response to such incidents.
 

A brush breaker from the Otis Fire Department prepares to go to work as the May 1965 fire is about to jump Route 6 the Mid-Cape Highway.

     This feature shows a number of the fire towers and how they were used on Cape Cod.
 

Several fire towers were built across Cape Cod. This is an old photo of the FALMOUTH TOWER.

The fire tower is a basic, low technology means of spotting and reporting smoke and fires as they begin. The tower operator would keep a sharp eye out using binoculars and a well developed under standing of the area they were responsible for monitoring.

The center of the fire tower is the area map and the system used to determine the compass barring "line" on where the base of the smoke is located.

As the fire tower operator lines up the smoke, it can be lined up on a map in the tower or fire station. As a second or third line is added, the fire location can be pinpointed and apparatus can be told where to respond to locate it.

< PREV  TOP  NEXT>