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Pierreville redirects here. For the Québec town, see Régie d'incendie Pierreville-Saint-François-du-Lac.

Pierreville Fire Trucks was a Canadian fire apparatus builder located in Saint-François-du-Lac, Québec near Pierreville.

History[]

Pierreville Fire Trucks was formed by five of the nine sons of Pierre Thibault, founder of Pierre Thibault Fire Trucks. The nine disagreed about the future of the company; the five wanted to continue building fire trucks, while the remaining four brothers wanted to sell the family business. In the end, René, Julien, Marion, Charles-Étienne and Yvon Thibault formed a competing firm called Pierreville Fire Trucks in 1968 while Thibault was sold to interests outside the Thibault family. Pierre Thibault was in Pierreville and Pierreville Fire Trucks was just across the Saint-François River in Saint-François-du-Lac.

Pierreville quickly established itself as one of Canada's largest apparatus manufacturers. Starting with several sales to fire departments in Québec, Pierreville was delivering to municipalities across Canada by the early seventies. Aerial devices were added to their product line in 1972 and Pierreville became the distributor for LTI in Canada. The company was also Waterous Pumps sole representative in Canada.

In 1979, as the original family firm faced financial difficulties, Pierreville sent brother René Thibault to purchase its assets and bring it into the Pierreville fold. However, René actually purchased Pierre Thibault for himself, leading for a rift in the family. Both companies continued to operate, with Pierreville taking the crown for largest Canadian manufacturer in 1980 in terms of units sold. Pierreville also expanded into the United States.

The recession of the early 1980s and bidding wars with competitors forced Pierreville into bankruptcy in 1985. Thibault assumed many of Pierreville's assets and hired some of its employees, while Yvon and Marion formed a new company called Camions Incendie Phoenix / Phoenix Fire Trucks in Drummondville, Québec. Phoenix took over the Canadian distributorship for LTI.

Production[]

Pierreville built approximately one thousand pumpers, aerials and tankers for delivery across Canada. American orders were also filled for the US Navy, San Diego Fire-Rescue Department and a number of fire departments in the Chicago area. Orders were also on the books for Detroit Fire Department and San Francisco Fire Department when Pierreville declared bankruptcy.

Factories[]

City Address In Service Notes
Saint-François-du-Lac 155, Route Marie-Victorin 1968-1985 NovaQuintech's factory from 1990 to 1997

Notes[]

The Pierreville Fire Trucks factory provided protection for the town of Saint-François-du-Lac until 1980, when the Régie d'incendie Pierreville-Saint-François-du-Lac was created.

External links[]

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