Western States Fire Apparatus

Not be confused with Westates Fire Apparatus.
Western States Fire Apparatus was an American fire apparatus manufacturer located in Cornelius, Oregon. 
== History ==
Western States was originally founded as a vehicle repair shop by Gloyd Hall Senior before World War II as Hall's Garage, and built their first rig on a used chassis, with a primarily wood body, during the war. They built pumpers, tankers, brush rigs and a few other types on commercial chassis through their early history. The great majority of rigs built through the mid-1960's were on Ford F-Series commercial chassis with front-mount pumps. The rigs produced through November 1955, serial #101, were built for and badged as Neep Fire Apparatus. The Hall family purchased the assets of the Neep Company in late 1955, and continued the Neep serial numbers at that point, but changed the apparatus brand to "Western States". Sometime during this time period, Gloyd Hall Jr, "Ernie", assumed control of the company when his father retired. Throughout the many years of production, the great majority of apparatus built were based on Ford truck chassis. From the early 60's through the mid-80's, the Ford Super Duty and the International H.D. V-8 series engines were the preferred heavy-duty choice of most smaller departments, due both to their reliability as well as local dealerships of both makes in most rural areas. Most common were the Ford F series, while many C series rigs were also built. In later years, the Ford L series became the most popular. Also popular were International and GMC chassis. Dodge chassis became more popular after V-8 engines were introduced in the mid-fifties, but were still fairly rare with W.S. bodywork. Chevrolet trucks were seldom used. In early years. This was partly because of the lack of V-8 engines until mid-1955. Chevrolet was the only mass-producer that built engines without insert-type bearings and fully pressurized lubrication after the very early 1930's. Instead, they relied on obsolescent, less durable babbit bearings with "splash and dipper" lubrication to the rod bearings in Chevrolet engines until the early 1950's. 
Several rigs were built on the heavy-duty Kenworth conventional chassis. Under the Neep name, 3 Kenworth pumpers were built for Seattle, Washington, one in 1953, and two in 1954. The serial numbers were 85-1, 85-2, and 85-3. This was the only time that multiple rigs were built by Neep/Western States with a single serial number and a suffix. From 1976 through 1983, Western States built a total of 13 front mount 1250 GPM pumper-tankers on the big C-500 Kenworth 6x4 chassis. Serial numbers ran from 770 to 1140. These all had either 2,000 or 2,500 gallon tanks. A smaller similar rig for Glide, Oregon was built on a Kenworth W-925 chassis in 1986. A number of midship pumpers were built on the Kenworth Hustler and L-700 chassis from the late 70's through about 1985. W.S. also built a single pumper on a Diamond-Reo chassis in 1968, and two on Autocar chassis in 1989.
Western States was also the Northwest dealer for Seagrave from mid-1957 through about the end of 1981. Rigs were built on both conventional and cab-forward FWD chassis starting with serial number 132 in January 1958. After FWD bought out Seagrave in 1965, Western States continued using FWD chassis, mostly but not exclusively with all-wheel-drive. Western States started building on the "P" series Seagrave cab-forward chassis starting with serial number 435 in January 1968. Nearly all intracab single-axle pumpers had a 1,000 gallon water tank. Early intracabs were built with 750 or 1,000 GPM pumps. Nearly all intracabs built through mid-1991 carried the 1250 gpm pump. Later rigs were often built with the new 1500 gpm intracab pump. Besides the intra-cab pumpers, Western States built many midship pumpers on the Seagrave "P" series chassis. There were about two-dozen starting with number 435 in 1968, and ending with number 881 in 1979. They also built a single midship pumper on the newer "H" chassis in 1980, serial number 888. From 1957 through 1980, Western States sold approximately 66 pure Seagraves. The last 2 Seagrave chassis intra-cab rigs were built on the "H" series chassis: serial numbers 918, and 930 in 1981. Western States also built five intra-cab rigs on Seagrave 6x4 chassis between 1973 and 1978, generally with a 2,000 gallon tank. A single intra-cab rig was also built on a 1973 Seagrave/FWD 6x6 chassis for Douglas County Fire District No. 2 in East Wenatchee, WA, serial number 582. Western States also built a single 85' Hi-Ranger platform on a P series tandem axle chassis for Yakima, Washington in 1968. The exact numbers are hard to determine as Westerns States put their plate and serial number on all Seagrave chassis rigs they sold, whether they had a Western States body, or were pure Seagrave. The Western States bodies usually had a slanted rear end, while Seagrave bodies generally had a vertical rear end to the body. The relationship with Seagrave ended in late 1981. From late 1981 through 1992, almost all Western States custom chassis rigs were built on various models of Spartan chassis. In 1989, one rig was built for Oregon City, Oregon, on a Duplex D-350 chassis, serial number 1101. From 1993 on, most customs were built on the HME chassis. The company was the best known builder of the Intra Cab, a pumper with the pump mounted in front of the engine, with the pump controls mounted in the cab face. These were built on FWD CAE chassis, then Seagrave, and later Spartan and HME chassis. The first Intra Cab pumper built by Western States was serial number 416. It was built on a FWD brand CAE model 4wd chassis, and delivered on April 30, 1968. It had a 750 GPM capacity pump and was sold new to Yakima County Fire Protection District #1, located in Tieton, Washington. Western States used both midship and front-mount Barton-American pumps in the great majority of their rigs. In later years, midship Seagrave pumps were also offered in Seagrave chassis with Western States bodies. Hale midship type pumps were also offered starting in the 1990's.
There were only 2 "big city" dep'ts that used W.S. rigs. Portland bought 16 from 1974 through 1991, mostly intracabs, plus 2 Seagrave TDA's with W.S. bodywork only. Seattle had the 3 KW-Neep pumpers, plus 5 1987 Spartan pumper and a 6th similar rig in 1989. Other Dep's that bought a lot of W.S. rigs were Tualatin/ Wash. #1 with 14, Marion Co #1 with 18, and Gig Harbor, Wa. (Pierce Co #5) with 20 rigs.
The first Intra Cabs were built by New England manufacturer Farrar beginning around 1964. The Intra Cab pump was developed by Barton-American in the early 1960's. It was a modified version of their front-mount pump developed in the late 1920's or early 1930's. Both pumps were powered by a shaft taken off of the crankshaft pulley of the engine. Besides selling the Intra Cab pump to various companies, American Fire Apparatus (not American LaFrance) also built a number of Intra Cab pumpers using the same Barton-American pump. Western States built a total of about 114 intra cab rigs, not including any built during the unknown period for which serial numbers are partly unavailable. One advantage of both the front-mount and Intra Cab pumps was their location at the front of the rig. This design allowed larger water tanks to be specified due to the more favorable weight distribution with the weight of the pump on the front suspension. Both the front-mount and Intra Cab pumps were operated with the truck transmission in neutral. In later years, this was a factor in the declining demand for both types of pump. Midship pumps were operated with the truck transmission in a forward gear, and this caused some dangerous accidents due to confusion when firefighters operated with a rig that they were not familiar with in departments that ran both types of rigs. 
After Ernie Hall's fatal heart attack in August, 1989, the company went through a long period of management changes. Two key employees left the company during this period, and formed "H&W" fire apparatus in nearby Hillsboro, Oregon. The company was named for the first initials of the nicknames of the two owners: "HAP" and "WINK". The new company slowly took away much of the regional market share previously held by Western States, due to better marketing and the knowledge and experience of the two owners.
The highest known W.S. Serial # is 2017 from 2002. Western States went out of business in 2003.
Category:Defunct American fire apparatus manufacturers