I got tired of the lack of attention being paid to a disappearing
breed: fire engines operated by electric power generating plants.
I believe the NRC requires most nuclear plants to maintain a fire engine,
but fire trucks at fossil and hydro plants are few and far between.
Most of these pictures are from plants operated by American Electric Power
or at least partially owned by AEP. I was also lucky enough to get
a few pictures from some TVA plants. I apologize for the lack of
info on these engines, but I promise I'll add more details as I can dig
them up. All pictures were taken by me unless otherwise noted.
AEP's Amos Plant in Scary, WV, operates a 1992 International/E-One engine. Like all of the newer generation AEP engines this truck has a 1250 gpm pump and a 750 gallon tank. The newest AEP engines (Gavin and Big Sanday, I think) also have foam tanks. This truck carries E-One serial number 10942. This unit replaced a 1960's International/American Fire Equipment engine. You can see Units 1 and 2 (800 MW each) in the background and the cooling tower for Unit 3 (1300 MW) on the far left. Amos is AEP's biggest plant at 2900 MW. Contrary to popular belief, the cooling tower does not mean this is a nuclear plant (the coal pile is just beyond Unit 2).
A view of Amos' collapse rescue trailer. There is no permanently assigned vehicle to tow the trailer at this time.
AEP's Big Sandy Plant in Louisa, KY, operates this International/E-One.
Indiana-Kentucky Electric Company operates this 1983 Ford/Pierce at their Clifty Creek Plant in Madison, IN. This truck sports a 1000 gpm pump and a (750?) gallon tank. Someone from AEP took the photo, I think in June of 1989. AEP owns roughly 42% of IKEC and provides engineering support to the plant.
Another view of Clifty's engine from the same collection.
One more view of Clify's engine, again from the same collection.
This 1980 GMC/FMC was originally assigned to AEP's Rockport Plant in Rockport, IN. It's now operated by the Conesville Plant in Conesville, OH. Conesville plant was originally operated by Columbus & Southern Power, a company that was bought by AEP around 1983. Conesville never had a fire engine until this one. Rockport now uses their coal yard water buffalo as a "fire engine". This unit has a 1000 gpm pump and a 750 gpm tank. It carries AEP Fleet number 790024.
Conesville's Emergency Equipment Truck. This vehicle carries confined space and hazmat gear.
AEP's Kammer and Mitchell Plants located in Cresap, WV, share this International/E-One. The engine is quartered at Mitchell. This truck replaced a 1969 International/American Fire Equipment engine at Mitchell and a 1950's era pumper at Kammer.
AEP's Kanawha River Plant in Glasgow, WV, operated this 1958 International Model A-140 4 x 4, serial number 98949C. This picture and the ones that follow were taken in March of 1990, I believe by Mark Van Bremen. I'm still digging up more information on this rig.
Here's a view of the back of Kanawha's engine. Several AEP plants oerated similar rigs (I'll add a list to the site soon).
This is inside the cab of Kanawha's engine.
Here's a good view of the engine in front of the firehouse at Kanawha.
This is another view from the front officer's side.
Note the "APCO" on the side of the engine. Appalachian Power Company was one of AEP's operating companies. It covered an area from Charleston, WV, down to the Tennessee border. After years of centralizing everything under the "AEP" name, the Appalachian Power name was recently revived. While the plants remain under "AEP", the distribution services as well as a new baseball stadium in Charleston bear the Appalachain Power name.
AEP's Mountaineer Plant in New Haven, WV, opeates this GMC/FMC (a twin to Conesville's engine). Picture couretsy of Mountaineer Plant.
A wider view of Mountaineer's engine operating at the same incident. As far as I know, the driver of the truck was not seriously injured.
A picture of Muskingum River Plant's International/E-One in front of the plant's emergency training center. Muskingum is located near Waterford, OH.
TVA's Paradise Plant in Kentucky operates this Ford/Fire-Tec.
TVA's Shawnee Plant near Paducah, KY, operates this unique engine. I apologize, but I can't find my notes on who the manufacturer was. Special thanks to TVA for allowing me to visit both plants!
AEP's Philip Sporn Plant located near New Haven, WV, operates another International/E-One. This is a 1993 model with a 1250 gpm pump and a 750 gallon tank. This unit carries E-One serial number 12628.
Another view of Sporn's engine. Those are Mountaineer's flyash silos in the background. Note the engine is labeled for "Central Operting Company", a joint vnture between Ohio Power and Appalachian Power.
Not the greatest picture, but that's Tanners Creek Plant's International/E-One parked inside their station. This truck is a 1992 model, a twin to Amos' truck. Tanners Creek is located in Lawrenceburg, IN, near the Argosy Casino. I believe this picture came from the plant's fire chief.
This is the pride of my patch collection. To the best of my knowledge, Tanners Creek was the only plant that ever had a patch made up. They only had a small quantity made, and as far as I know this was the last one left.
Still looking...
I'm still looking for more information on AEP's past and present trucks as well as fire engines from other utilities. Here's what I know about AEP's current fleet: