FIRST DUE FIREHOUSE REPLICAS

About the Owner/Designer/Builder/Author

Andrew Benzie began collecting model emergency vehicles in the 1970s when his grandparents gave him his first Corgi and Dinky toy fire engines. He has an extensive collection and knowledge of Code 3 models, and has published three books on Conrad, Siku, and Tomica emergency vehicles. Andrew currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area where he runs a design and book publishing company, and plays bass and drums with several local bands.

First Due Firehouse Replicas

Release #24:

San Francisco Fire Department

Engine 15/Truck 15

“Towering Inferno”

“Ocean’s 15”

The twenty-fourth release of First Due Firehouse Replicas:

San Francisco Fire Department’s Engine 15/Truck 15

Code 3 produced a replica of San Francisco Fire Department Truck 15 (a Seagrave tractor drawn aerial) in October 2005 to celebrate its appearance in the famous 1974 movie Towering Inferno. This special release (of 5,000 units) included the replica along with a DVD of the award-winning movie starring Steve McQueen, Paul Newman and Fred Astaire.

Together Engine 15 and Truck 15 (known as Ocean’s 15) protect the Ingleside District of the city of San Francisco—the twenty-fourth release from First Due Firehouse Replicas.

About the Firehouse

San Francisco Fire Department’s Towering Inferno/Ocean’s 15 firehouse opened in 1957 directly adjacent to San Francisco City College. Fire Station 15’s first due area includes numerous small businesses and homes in the Ingleside and Westwood Park neighborhoods. Original inhabitant Engine Company 38 moved out in 1973, and Engine 15 moved in to join Truck 15 and Battalion 9 at this Ocean Avenue location. These three companies have been quartered together here ever since.

About the Replica

First Due Firehouse Replicas goes to great lengths to capture as much accuracy and detail as possible within each model we produce. Once the research is completed and a firehouse is chosen to replicate, the process involves taking photographs, creating an architectural building plan, assembling and editing the photos to digital 1:64 scale artwork, printing the artwork on glossy poster-quality paper and mounting the prints to foam-core board. Next the walls are cut out using a professional-quality mat cutter (to achieve 45° angle cuts for joins), and each model is then assembled by hand. Additional exterior details are added including air conditioning units, railings, exhaust vents, etc. Finally, remaining small details are hand-painted, the custom-built apparatus bay doors are installed and the raising of the flag completes each firehouse replica.

Fore more information about this product, please see our Frequently Asked Questions page. If have any further questions, please Contact Us.

Code 3 produced a replica of SFFD’s Truck 15 in 2005 (not included with firehouse purchase)—this product also included a DVD of The Towering Inferno movie.

Truck 15:

• Seagrave (#12967 sold with bonus DVD, 2005)

About the Apparatus

How to Order

You may Place an Order for any of our products online. Once we receive your order we will contact you via email with more information about availability, payment, shipping costs, etc.

Location:

1000 Ocean Avenue

San Francisco, CA

Years in Service:

1957-present

Companies Quartered:

1. •Engine 15 (organized 1885, quartered July 1973–present)
   

2. •Truck 15 (organized 1923, quartered 1957-present)
   

3. •Battalion 9 (organized 1918, quartered 1957-present)
   

Video:

Evening Alarm - SF Fire Department Responding (code 3 response from Towering Inferno movie, 1974)

About Us     Firehouse Replicas     Custom Models     Fleet Services     FAQ     Contact/Order

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About Us     Firehouse Replicas     Custom Models     Fleet Services     FAQ     Contact/Order

Release Date:

• September 2022

Dimensions:

• Base width: 12 inches

• Base depth: 14 inches

• Building width: 12 inches

• Building depth: 12 inches

• Building height: 5 inches (w/hose tower 9 inches)

• Height to tip of flagpole: 8 inches

Features Included:

1. •Black base with 2 inch apron in front
   

2. •Removable roofs
   

3. •Removable apparatus bay doors Note: for this one-story apparatus bay firehouse the roof must be removed to remove/insert the bay doors.
   

4. •Flag/Flagpole
   

5. •Printed firehouse fact sheet booklet
   

6. •Apparatus re-number sheet (a poster-printed sheet of apparatus numbers you can use to convert existing models into units quartered in this firehouse)
   

Pricing:

Our introductory price for this firehouse replica is $359 plus shipping (Note: the models of the apparatus are not included). The price covers the cost of the photo-quality prints (starting at about $50), the building materials (various paper, foam, plastic, wood and metal products), and around eight hours of time to construct (not including the many hours of preparatory research and design time spent to create each prototype model). Note: We create each or our replicas by hand—this is NOT a 3D printed or laser cut model.

Amercom (Poland) released a white-over-red Seagrave pumper lettered for “County of Kentucky” as part of their Fire Engines of the World series in the early 2010s. A printed sheet of SFFD unit numbers is included with the firehouse to assist in converting this existing model.

Engine 15:

1. •Seagrave K-Type Pumper (Amercom #SF-29, 2010s, decals by First Due Shops, 2022)

SFFD Truck 15 appearing in The Towering Inferno movie

Johnny Lightning (USA) released a generic white-over-red 1990 Ford Crown Victoria as part of their American Heroes series. 

Battalion 9:

1. •Ford Crown Victoria (Johnny Lightning #333-02, 2002)

Corgi (England) released the following three replicas of San Francisco Fire Department apparatus. These reserve/parade models are stored in the extra bay of our replica.

SFFD Turbo Chief:

• American LaFrance Pumper (Corgi #51503, 1:50, 2001)

SFFD Turbo Chief:

• 70th Anniversary Seagrave* (Corgi Fire Heroes #90012,

  1:72, 2002)

*Note: this is a fictional model, the real SFFD Turbo Chief (featuring a turbine engine) was an American LaFrance unit.

Water Tender “SFFD Engine Co. 1”:

• 1915 Ford Model T (Corgi Classics #C864-3, 1986)

Code 3 newsletter excerpt from 2005

Andy Silvestri, the son of a retired firefighter, painted the historically-themed mural on the upper front facade in 1999. It features three horses pulling a steam fire engine and a firefighter carrying a ladder into a burning grocery store.