As the Dennis Fire Department was organized in 1932, two of the former school
houses were converted into fire stations. Company 1 (above) was located on
Main Street in South Dennis, approximately between what is now Farm Lane and Goosebay Lane.
Town Reports show that several basic fire trucks
were used by Dennis prior to 1932 and up to about 1937 when a new Engine 1
was purchased.
It is believed that the three fire trucks on the
left in the photo above were purchased prior to the official organized
department. They would be a 1929 Ford Model A (left), 1933 Chevy (center),
and 1927 Dodge hose reel (right). The photo was probably taken in the late
1930s, since the truck on the far right in the photo is believed to be the
first engine bought by the town "fire department." It was a 1937 Ford/Maxim
500 gpm pumper "Engine 1"
This early Dennis fire engine appears to be about a
1927 Dodge brothers. Quite a bit of money was spent at the time by Forest
Warden Earle H. Wittemore to purchase a couple pumps and as much as 5000' of
forestry hose. The reel on this truck probably carried a lot of that hose.
This appears to be about a 1929 Ford Model A fire truck.
This appears to be another of
Dennis's early fire trucks operating at a woods fire. Possibly about a 1931 Chevy.
The 1937 Ford/Maxim 500 gpm Engine 1 pumper and
crew at the South Dennis fire station.
The 1937 Ford/Maxim Engine 1 at Station 1.
Company 2 was located on the north side of town
in the general area of Old Bass River Road and Main Street (Route 6A). The
old school house (fire station) is next to the Dennis Union Church. The
present Station 2 is believed to be about where the school was.
Engine 2 on the North side was about a 1939
International pumper.
The 1939 International Engine 2 along with about a 1950 GMC.
One of the engines on the north side was this
approximately 1941 International. It may have been a Maxim 500 gpm pumper
according to records. It is believed to have served until replaced in 1967.
This 1947 Chevy served as a patrol truck. Shown
as 178. Believed to have been originally assigned to the North station.
Dennis had unique looking apparatus for many years.
This is about a 1950 GMC (possibly Farrar) truck that served as an engine,
tanker, and ladder truck. This photo shows a 179 on the door, which is
believed to have been the "forest fire department" number at the time. Later
this truck is shown as No.2.
1950 GMC as Truck 2.
The 1950 GMC at a fire. In the background is the
1951 Ford/Robinson Barnstable County Forest Fire Department brush breaker
No.4.
In 1951, the Barnstable County Forest Fire
Department assigned a Ford/Robinson County Brush Breaker No.4 to the Dennis
Fire Department. It is shown here on the left, next to about a 1936 GMC
Chevy 1.5 fire truck and the 1937 Ford/Maxim Engine 1.
Barnstable County Forest Fire Service No.4 was built in 1951. It was
built on a 1951 Ford 6 wheel all wheel drive chassis. Also built by
Robinson Boiler of Cambridge, the truck featured a higher sided body
that provided some additional protection for personnel riding within
the body around the 800 gallon water tank and 150 gpm pump.
County No.4, also known as C-12, was
assigned to the Dennis Fire Department.
Harold Cobb photos.
The 1951 Ford brush breaker would serve
until it was replaced by the next generation brush breaker in 1963.
This 1953 GMC "Tank Truck" was almost identical to the 1950 on
the North side. No.3 served on the South side until about 1975.
A 1957 GMC patrol truck.
The Barnstable County Forest Fire Service put this 1963 Maxim 800
gallon brush breaker in service as C-12 in Dennis. It replaced the
1951 Ford County No.4. The 1958, 1960, and 1963 Maxim brush breakers
all looked alike.
The rear view of the 1963 Maxim No.4
(C-12).
Barnstable County brush breaker C-12 and
the town's 1957 GMC patrol truck.
The 1963 Maxim brush breaker is shown
with other Dennis apparatus at the West Dennis Fire Station 1 on
Route 28. The Maxim F pumper is the 1972 Engine 3, so the photo was
likely taken in 1972-73.
In 1971, Dennis replaced their 1948 brush breaker
and the 1957 Patrol truck with this Dodge Power Wagon/Maynard(?) brush
breaker.
Brush Truck 110, also known as Truck 2, had a 250
gpm pump and 300 gallon water tank. Here it is shown inside the North Dennis
Fire Station 2 where it was assigned.
Dennis renumbered this brush breaker in 1999. It
became Breaker 118. The number 110 would then be utilized for the Ladder
truck that had been Truck 108. The 1971 Dodge was retired by Dennis in
about 2001. It would then go on to serve in Nantucket for several years.
The 1971 former Dennis brush breaker in Nantucket
2003.
The truck finished out its Nantucket career on
Tuckernuck Island.
In 1975, Dennis put this Dodge brush truck in
service as Truck 3 (105) at Station 1. The truck pumped 250 gpm and carried
350 gallons. It replaced the 1953 GMC "Tank Truck" Truck 3.
In 1999, the Dennis Fire Department built a new
Forestry Truck. The 1999 Ford F450 4x4 truck was built on a flatbed style
truck. It has a 400 gallon tank and 225 gpm pump. The truck was initially
numbered 110. It replaced the 2 older forestry units, the 1971 Dodge and
1975 Dodge.
The 1999 Ford Forestry truck was renumbered 108 in
2002. The Ladder truck was then renumbered as Truck 110.
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CAPE COD BRUSH BREAKERS 
