If you’re a fire apparatus buff and amateur apparatus historian like me, you’ll surely remember the name “Maxim.” The company was created in 1914 in Middleboro, Mass., by Carlton Maxim, after he was dissatisfied with a truck built for the Middleboro Fire Department, of which he was a member.
Carlton Maxim was given an opportunity to build an additional fire truck for the department. The vehicle he built was well received and soon other local fire departments in the area were requesting that he build for them. Thus, Maxim Fire Apparatus was born. Its aerial ladders were some of the strongest built and were used by several different manufacturers.
Maxim was primarily an East Coast builder, although at one time you could find its apparatus across the United States and even in other countries. The company expanded and changed ownership several times and finally shut its doors in December 1989.
2 Decades Later…
Twenty years later, Tim O’Neil, the CEO of Greenwood Emergency Vehicles, a large fire apparatus and equipment dealer in North Attleboro, Mass., decided to bring the Maxim name to life again.
“I wanted to resurrect the Maxim name in fire apparatus because of its great history of being a quality manufacturer,” O’Neil says. In order to do this, he first had to get permission from E-One and Horton, because he would be building these vehicles in the same shop where he serviced and sold their vehicles. “I didn’t want to have any conflicts of interest,” O’Neil says.
After getting the companies’ blessing, O’Neil applied for and obtained a temporary trademark from the U.S. Government. “It was fairly easy to do, since there was no record of anyone else having a hold on the Maxim name,” O’Neil says. “There was no trademark in existence for the Maxim name or logo, which kind of surprised me. I thought it would be a lot harder.”
Built for New England
O’Neil came up with the idea to design and market a vehicle specially made for the New England fire apparatus market. “All of the fire departments in this area have, to some degree, standard options of what they need in a fire apparatus,” he says. “I wanted to come up with a vehicle that had limited customization and a body design that would appeal to 90 percent of our customers.”
New England fire departments are approximately 80 percent volunteer and 20 percent career. O’Neil’s simple design would be able to be serviced locally, reducing costs for all departments and minimizing the effects of downtime on small volunteer departments without many apparatus.
“We built the body with stainless steel, not only because of its strength, but to withstand the harsh winters we have up here in New England,” O’Neil says. “We chose Spartan for the cab and chassis because we felt that Spartan builds a strong chassis with a few different cab size variants, should we decide to expand the lineup of apparatus in the future.”
The Spartan Furion chassis was chosen for medium-duty customers; the Metro Star will be used for a more customized vehicle. In addition, the design calls for no multiplex wiring, all hardwired systems, a limited 20-year paint warranty and the choice of a 500-, 750- or 1,000-gallon water tank built by UPF.
First Impressions
The first Maxim prototype vehicle built by Greenwood was shown at the company’s annual open house last fall. “We have been testing and validating the design since that time,” O’Neil says. “Currently we have space at our own shop to manufacture the vehicles.” Limiting the marketing to local departments in the five-state New England area should keep the company busy without being unmanageable.
“One other vehicle that we manufactured recently under the Maxim name was a mini rapid intervention unit, which was delivered to Mustique in Saint Vincents in the Grenadine Islands,” O’Neil says. “It was well received and is currently operating for that fire department.”
A Fresh Start
Many giants in the fire apparatus industry have come and gone in the past 20 years or so, including Maxim, Pirsch, Grumman, Saulsbury, RD Murray, 3D, Boardman, Mack and a host of others. The economy is starting to wreak havoc on our current lineup of apparatus builders. Let’s hope history doesn’t repeat itself again, and that they’re all able to weather the current storm.
If you’re department is located in New England and you’re in the market for a new engine, take a look at the new Maxim. You might be surprised at what they have to offer.
