FDNY's Lime Green Fire Trucks
- Thread starter nfd2004
- Start date
Can I say they were truly ugly. Green with Red Bold Numbers as seen in the picture above. Squad 41 Had One.
https://www.fdnytrucks.com/files/html/bronx/e41.htm
https://www.fdnytrucks.com/files/html/bronx/e41.htm
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If I remember correctly we had to use the lime green SQ41 because it was one of the many demands made by the neighborhood (Marty & his gang)
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I was told the reason E-10 was selected was the mayor's wife hated the color. The mayor and the department were not getting along and their residence was in E-10's district so to aggravate her they painted it.
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I recall when Doctor Solomon suddenly appeared in the pages of Fire Engineering or the old Western Fire Journal extolling the science of the lime green paint scheme.
My guess is that the ALF General Manager. wanting an advertising edge for the introduction of the ugly Pioneer cab, knew safety was always a good plan. He told his secretary to go to the eye store where she got her librarian glasses and ask the guy what a scientific fire truck color should be.
The optometrist, since he didn't have the internet, got a physics book out and went to the chapter on the visual component of the electromagnetic spectrum. And midway between infrared and ultraviolet, there it was- lime green. Pure genius!
The next thing you knew, the town folk were asking "Why are they putting flashing red lights on the sanitation trucks?".
Everyone knew it was baloney. But people were reluctant to possibly come down on the wrong side of safety. Except for the FAA, sanity eventually prevailed.
To paraphrase that old saying- Don't be the first one to adopt a new idea or the last one to stop using a dumb one.
Happily, firefighter vehicular safety greatly improved within the decade when the members were chased off the back step!
Lastly, and damning with faint praise. It is my opinion that if Michelangelo, while painting the Sistine Chapel, was forced to choose between using lime green or Omaha Orange; Mickey A would be reaching for the slime lime bucket.
My guess is that the ALF General Manager. wanting an advertising edge for the introduction of the ugly Pioneer cab, knew safety was always a good plan. He told his secretary to go to the eye store where she got her librarian glasses and ask the guy what a scientific fire truck color should be.
The optometrist, since he didn't have the internet, got a physics book out and went to the chapter on the visual component of the electromagnetic spectrum. And midway between infrared and ultraviolet, there it was- lime green. Pure genius!
The next thing you knew, the town folk were asking "Why are they putting flashing red lights on the sanitation trucks?".
Everyone knew it was baloney. But people were reluctant to possibly come down on the wrong side of safety. Except for the FAA, sanity eventually prevailed.
To paraphrase that old saying- Don't be the first one to adopt a new idea or the last one to stop using a dumb one.
Happily, firefighter vehicular safety greatly improved within the decade when the members were chased off the back step!
Lastly, and damning with faint praise. It is my opinion that if Michelangelo, while painting the Sistine Chapel, was forced to choose between using lime green or Omaha Orange; Mickey A would be reaching for the slime lime bucket.