Innovation of the Era!
Mid to Late 1900s

Rescue ME!

Rescue trucks became very common in the 1980's. Rescue trucks carry everything firefighters need to extract a person form a ball of mangled steel that once was a car or truck. They also carry various jacks that can lift almost anything.
This 1983 Ranger rescue unit represents a typical piece of equipment now seen at most firehouses: the rescue truck. It also is representative of a trend in apparatus during the 1970's: the lime-yellow fire truck. Studies showed that this color was most easily seen by motorists, so some companies changed their trucks from red to the lime-yellow color. Picture used courtesy of Verplanck Volunteer Fire District.
Vehicle extrication tools are usually either spreaders (such as the Jaws of Life) or cutters. Pictured above is an early Hurst tool, which is a cutter.