Fire trucks, along with crash tenders and ambulances, played a vital role at the BCATP schools. Training was hazardous and there were many aircraft crashes to tend to. This fire truck is a 1942 International Harvester K8 that saw service at #3 Bombing and Gunnery School at MacDonald, Manitoba. Post war, the truck was taken to Winkler, then used at a Hutterite Colony and later donated to the Manitoba Agricultural Museum in Austin, Manitoba. An exchange of vehicles brought this truck to the CATP Museum. This truck is partially restored and operable.
Below is a period advertisement for International Harvester Fire Trucks and the important roles they played. After our fire truck was restored, museum volunteers re-enacted the photo in the ad with the museum’s Harvard and Cornell. The original ad is on the left and the re-enacted photo is on the bottom of the image on the right!
The photos above are of a 1941 International K8 fire truck. It is a 5 ton, 2 axle truck, capable of pumping gallons a minute. (Photos Courtesy of N. Kachur at rcaf.info and the John Griffin Library, 1 Canadian Air Division)
Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum & RCAF WWII Memorial 