Old Pierce Dash fire pumper truck American heavy-duty firefighting apparatus

A firefighting apparatus (North American English) or firefighting appliance (UK English) is any vehicle that has been customized for use during firefighting operations. These vehicles are highly customized depending on their needs and the duty they will be performing. These duties can include firefighting, technical rescue, and emergency medical services.

Pierce Manufacturing is a U.S. subsidiary of Oshkosh Corporation, based in Appleton, Wisconsin, that manufactures customized fire and rescue apparatus.

Pierce was founded in 1913 by Humphrey Pierce and his son Dudley as the Pierce Auto Body Works Inc., which concentrated on building custom truck bodies for the Ford Model T.

Currently (December 4, 2017) Pierce is the largest manufacturer of firefighting apparatus in the United States. End-users are represented across a larger majority of the planet, including China. The single largest municipal fleet of Pierce Manufacturing apparatus is located within the 407 square miles of Fairfax County, Virginia. (Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department)