Fire trucks are red because of tradition. back in the early days of the fire service red was the most expensive color and showed great pride in you dept
When I was Young I was born during the Lime-Yellow movement here in the US,but the majority of companies had red trucks with a few execptions,such as Yellow and white,in 1985 a different color was chosen for our trucks from the regular red & white.Many stories,or excuses have come my way over the years,but the color ended up being Shapphire Metal Flake BLUE capped with Silver Metal Flake.An yes it is different,totally but our company has become known for it and there have been only 4 in Erie County ,N.Y.there is a link to our website on my profile to view them and i think most of you can agree that while really different it looks pretty cool.More opver our 1st fire truck was a 1928 Sanford/Buffalo pumper painted Grey with Blue or red fenders & running boards.Also working at a local engine plant i've seen many other strange but true colors includeeing ,PINK,PURPLE,BLACK,ORANGE,TEAL & MAROON.To name a few
Comment by Ittywah on December 15, 2008 at 10:40am
Ever since I was a child...(at the age 0f 4 I loved seeing and hearing Fire Trucks) Fire Trucks have been RED. A nice medium dark red, the color of fine red wine. In my mind and I would think in the minds of most, RED is the color that is thought of when you say "FIRE" and therefore RED is a "NATURAL" when it comes to the color of fire trucks. If fire trucks are White... people think of vehicles belonging to the sanitation department, hospital, or ambulance. If a fire trucks are Yellow.... that brings to mind "School Bus", road crew or some other road related vehicle..... BETTER KEEP THEM "RED" cause thats the color a fire truck should be.
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