1948 Mack Type 75 Pumper
Engine 2 (1948), Engine 32 (1960), Engine 312 (1972), Engine 315 (1977), Engine 316 (1979)
On January 24, 1947 the fire company once again signed a contract with the Mack International Motor Truck Company for a new pumper at a cost of twelve thousand two hundred and seventy five dollars. The unit arrived in Bel Air in March of 1948 and ran its first alarm on March 19, 1949 for a fire at the Hitchcock residence near Fallston.
The pumper was equipped with a Hale Two Stage Class A 750 GPM pump, 400 gallon booster tank, booster reel of 250 feet of ¾ inch hose mounted in the rear of the unit, 1200 feet of 2 ½ inch hose, 600 feet of 1 ½ inch hose, a 24 foot wooden extension ladder and a 14 foot roof ladder. It also carried all the necessary appliances and tools. After its arrival, it was also equipped with the special ladder rack over the hose bed that carried the 35 foot wooden extension ladder. This is the hose rack that had been removed from the 1938 Mack when it was sold and remounted on this unit.
In April of 1977 the unit was relocated to the fire company’s Forest Hill Station. It would run out of this station as the first and then second run unit for several years.
In 1984, with the purchase of newer apparatus, space was again becoming an issue. The pumper was sold to David Pannepacker of Newtown, Pennsylvania, who used it as a parade piece for many years. In 2009 Mr. Pannepacker notified the fire company that the pumper would be for sale if we wanted to repurchase it. The fire company decided to repurchase the pumper and on July 23, 2009 several members made the trip to Newton, Pennsylvania and returned to Bel Air with the pumper. Since its return the pumper has been used in many parades, events and other functions.
The unit is currently housed at the Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company Patterson Mill Station.