Cape Cod Brush Breakers

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CAPE COD BRUSH BREAKERS

FIRE DEPARTMENT
Brush & Forest Fire Apparatus History
DUKES COUNTY

~ TISBURY ~
FIRE DEPARTMENT
Page Updated March 16, 2022

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Tisbury Fire Department - Engine 2 - 1955 Ford/Maxim 500/500 Brush Breaker
(Tisbury FD collection)

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MAIN
M - Map
1A - Forestry - 1935 Ford Forestry Truck
1B - Eng 2 - 1955 Ford/Maxim 500/500 Combination Brush Breaker
1C - Forestry - 1960 International/Maxim 500 gallon Brush Breaker
1D
1E
1F

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2A - Forestry - 1935 Ford Forestry Truck
2B - Eng 2 - 1955 Ford/Maxim 500/500 Combination Brush Breaker
2C - Forestry -1960 International/Maxim 500 gallon Brush Breaker
2D
2E
2F

MAP

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TISBURY
(VINEYARD HAVEN)

1671 - Incorporated - Town of TISBURY
6.5 - Square Miles - AREA
4,815 - Population - (2020) CENSUS
738 - Density - PER SQ MILE

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Tisbury - Forestry - 1935 Ford Forest Fire Truck

Tisbury - Forestry Truck - 1934-35 Ford Fire Truck
(Tisbury FD collection)

Tisbury has one of the older fire departments on Martha's Vineyard. Visitors to the Island often arrive in Vineyard Haven and would have often passed the old Tisbury Fire Station on Beach Street between the "five corners" near the ferry and Main Street.

One of the older apparatus in Vineyard Haven was this 1934-35 Ford Fire Truck built to serve as a forestry truck. It would have had a relatively large water tank for the time and a large amount of hose. This truck probably served until about 1960 when a new Brush Breaker arrived.

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Tisbury - Engine 2 - 1955 Ford/Maxim 500/500 Combination Brush Breaker

Tisbury - Engine 2 - 1955 Ford/Maxim 500/500 Brush Breaker
(Tisbury FD collection)

Tisbury Engine 2 was purchased in 1955. The Ford chassis truck was built by Maxim Motors to serve as a combination Engine-Brush Breaker which was common at the time. It would have had about a 500 gpm pump and carried about 500 gallons of water. The steel bars around the truck served to protect it from damage when serving as a brush breaker or operating off the main roads at incidents.

The truck was still around in the 1970s when Tisbury (and many other communities) first experimented with the lime-green "high visibility" color scheme that has endured in Tisbury to this day. The Brush Breaker Engine 2 would have retired around 1987 when a new, more conventional "none-brush breaker" Engine 2 was purchased.

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Tisbury - Forestry - 1960 International/Maxim 500 Brush Breaker

Tisbury - Forest Fire - 1960 International/Maxim 500 gallon Brush Breaker (right)
(Tisbury FD collection)

Tisbury bought a new Brush Breaker around 1960. It was an International 4x4/Maxim 500 gallon Brush Breaker. The truck probably replaced the 1935 Ford Forestry Truck. The Brush Breaker was around in the 1970s when it was painted lime-green and may have also served as the Rescue Truck until about 1990-92 when it was replaced by a new Rescue Truck.

Apparatus in the photo (L-R) include the 1955 Ford/Maxim 500 gallon Engine 2 Brush Breaker, 1960 Ford/Maxim 65' Aerial Ladder 1, 1954 Ford/Maxim 500/500 Engine 1, 1949 American LaFrance 500 gpm "Legion Pumper" Engine 3, and the 1960 International/Maxim 500 gallon Brush Breaker. All in front of the Beach Street Fire Station. Photo early 1960s.

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FUTURE

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FUTURE

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MORE PHOTOS

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Tisbury - Forestry - 1934-35 Ford Forestry Fire Truck

Tisbury - Forestry - 1934-35 Ford Forestry Fire Truck
(Tisbury FD collection)

The 1935 Ford Forestry Truck

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Tisbury - Engine 2 - 1955 Ford/Maxim 500/500 Combination Brush Breaker

Tisbury - Engine 2 - 1954 Ford/Maxim 500/500 Combination Brush Breaker
(Tisbury FD collection)

This 1956 photo of Tisbury apparatus shows the 1955 Ford/Maxim 500/500 Engine 2 between the 1954 Ford/Maxim 500/500 Engine 1 and the 1935 (1938?) Ford Forestry Truck.

Tisbury Engine 2 - 1955 Ford/Maxim Brush Breaker

The Tisbury "Legion Pumper" Engine 3 (M-13) was a 1974 Ford/Maynard 750/500 Pumper (right). It was the first truck delivered with the new lime-yellow color scheme.

This 1981 photo shows the entire fleet at the time painted lime-yellow. From right to left includes the 1954 Ford/Maxim Engine 1 (M-11) next to the Legion Pumper. The newest member of the fleet, the 1981 Ford/E-One 1000/750 Engine 1 (M-11). The 1960 International/Maxim 500 gallon Brush Breaker (M-16). The 1960 Ford/Maxim 65' Aerial Ladder 1 (M-15). The 1955 Ford/Maxim 500/500 Engine 2 (M-12) Combination Brush Breaker.

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Tisbury - Brush Breaker - 1960 International/Maxim 500 Brush Breaker

The Tisbury Fire Department in the early 1960s in front of the Beach Street Station.

The lime-green Tisbury fleet in the 1970s. The 1955 Ford/Maxim Engine Combination Brush Breaker on the left and the 1960 International/Maxim 500 gallon Brush Breaker next to it. The 1960 Maxim Ladder 1, 1954 Ford/Maxim Engine 1, and the 1974 Ford/Maynard "Legion Pumper" Engine 3.

The Tisbury 1960 International 4x4/Maxim 500 gallon Brush Breaker during a parade.

In 1990, Tisbury bought this Ford/E-One 350/400 all wheel drive Rescue Pumper which probably replaced the 1960 International/Maxim Brush Breaker and served a forestry role in addition to being the rescue truck. May 2009 photo.

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FUTURE

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FUTURE

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Info

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