This engine was manned by sixty trained men and under expert operation would throw a stream of 1.53 gallons per stroke more than 200 feet.
The First Steam Fire Engine Built in 1841[48]
The Splendid Horses by which the Hand-Drawn Fire Apparatus were Supplanted Are in Turn Giving Way to Powerful Motor Engines and Trucks.[49]
An Old-Time LaFrance Piston Steam Fire Engine[49]
Built in 1894, at which time it had a capacity of 900 gallons per minute. This steam engine was equipped with a LaFrance boiler. This particular engine was in service in Superior, Wis., and was in continuous service pumping water on a coal fire night and day from November 18, 1913, to February 18, 1914 (just exactly three months), during which time it was only shut down twice to replace burned-out grates and three times to replace broken springs. During all of this time this steamer was incased in snow and ice.