This new 1,000-gallon fire truck was put through its paces in January 1952. It sported 32-foot aluminum extension ladders and cost $16,000.
1952: Fire Department tests new ladder truck
The Wausau Fire Department was testing out its new fire truck in 1952, reported the Wausau Daily Record-Herald on Jan. 5 of that year.
It cost $16,000, and firefighters used it to pump water from the Wisconsin River "at its top-rated capacity for several hours" the previous day before they put it into service at the No. 2 station house.
The 32-foot extension ladders were made of aluminum and required only two firefighters to raise, the paper reported.