Sound the alarm because America's fire fighting machines are coming through! Volume II of Big City Fire Trucks presents hundreds of trucks and their specialized equipment in 500 original black and white and full-color photos. Identifying captions include year of manufacture, chassis make, commercial outfitter, and accessories for easy identification of these firefighting pioneers.

Call out the monster trucks, exotic equipment, and unique apparatus of professional departments. Donald F. Wood and Wayne Sorensen include year of manufacture, make of truck chassis, commercial outfitter, and equipment for each listing.

The vehicles and other firefighting equipment of the Milwaukee Fire Department, like the department itself, are unique among the fire service. It built more of its own apparatus than any other American city and few can match the scope and character of apparatus used to serve and protect life and property in Milwaukee. Through detailed research, firsthand narratives, and captivating photos, the author walks the reader through the fascinating history of the incredible machines that served Cream City from the mid-nineteenth century to modern times. This volume traces the ever-changing face of Milwaukee's fire-fighting and life-saving equipment in parallel with the city's own history and growth. The fire department workshop's reputation for ingenuity is shown through its adaptations to disastrous fires that brought about changes in laws, economic growth and decline, the establishment of Milwaukee's ethnic neighborhoods, the difficult transition from horses to motorization, the wartime and post-war experience, the corporate world of apparatus manufacturers, and Milwaukee's fireboat fleet.

From native-American artifacts, Depression glass, and toys to lamps and lighting and paper ephemera, this authoritative "bible" is an essential field guide to more than 500 categories of collectibles. The 2001 edition features a new category of American paintings along with special emphasis on English and Continental furniture. 600 photos. (Antiques/Collectibles)