Engine 51 is known for its time in the 1970s TV show ''

Emergency! ''Emergency!'' is an American action-adventure medical drama A medical drama is a television show or film in which events center upon a hospital, an ambulance staff, or any medical environment. Most recent medical drama (film and television) ...

''. Engine 51 is actually two very different fire engines. Both Engines 51 sit in the

Los Angeles County Fire Museum The Los Angeles County Fire Museum is a public museum dedicated to the history of the Los Angeles County Fire Department in Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. Coun ...

right next to the famous

Squad 51 Squad 51 is a 1972 Dodge D-300 truck, one of three identical body-style rescue squad vehicles ("squads" or squad truck) that were used in the filming of the television series ''Emergency!'' Later models were retrofitted with 1972 model year gr ...

. The museum is building a new facility that will house the Squad 51 in

Carson, California Carson is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the South Bay region of Los Angeles, located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately away from Los Angeles International Airport. Incorporated on February 20, 1968, ...

, where the show was filmed.

Crown Coach E51

The first apparatus used as Engine 51 for ''Emergency!'' was a 1965 Crown Firecoach Triple. It has a pump producing 1,250 gallons per minute, a 935 cubic inch Hall-Scott gasoline engine producing 195 or 215 horsepower. The first "Engine 51" was an actual

Los Angeles County Fire Department The Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACoFD) provides firefighting services as well as technical rescue services, hazardous materials response services and emergency medical response services for the unincorporated parts of Los Angeles County ...

(LACoFD) engine assigned to Fire Station 60 on the lot of Universal Studios. LA County Engine 60 was the

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is th ...

Fire Department's last open cab fire engine. It was in service at Universal Studios from 1965 to about 1987 when it was placed in the care of the

in Bellflower, California, United States, where it resides today. Showing only 20,000 miles on the odometer it is the lowest mileage fire apparatus on the LACoFD. In original condition, the Museum plans to only touch up the paint where needed and maintain this Crown in as original condition as possible. For the first two seasons, when filming on the Universal Studio lot, this is the engine that was used, as it was readily available. Engine 60 became Engine 51 by putting magnets or stickers over the numbers 60 on the doors and the front. A sister, Engine 127, at the Station 127 in Carson, was used when they filmed off the lot, at the refinery, or at the old fire station. This engine was involved in a traffic accident and destroyed leaving engine 60 as the only original E51.

Ward LaFrance E51

The second Engine 51, a 1973 Ward LaFrance, was retrieved by the County of Los Angeles Fire Museum on August 8, 2008 from

Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park ( ) is an American national park in California, surrounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service and covers an ...

. It was in service there since the 1980s. The fire department took good care of the engine while it was in service. The 2nd Engine 51 is a 1000gpm triple combination P-80 Ambassador model powered by a Cummins NH855 250hp naturally aspirated diesel engine driving through an Allison HT-70 power shift transmission. The LACoFD rigs were 1250 gpm triples powered by Cummins NHCT295 turbocharged Diesels driving through Allison HT-70 5 speed manual transmissions. They had 500-gallon booster tanks, as did Engine 51. In their outward appearance both E-51 and the LACoFD rigs were identical. All the County Ward rigs plus E-51 had Federal Q2B sirens and Grover Stutter-tone air horns. In 2010, The County of Los Angeles Fire Museum started to restore the Ward back to its 1970s appearance, and equip it fully, as when it starred as Engine 51. The restoration was finished in 2012.

References

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External links

1965 Crown Firecoach in Emergency!, TV Series, 1972-1978

Emergency! Firefighting equipment History of Los Angeles County, California Vehicles introduced in 1965 Bellflower, California