Around here ours only get polished before parades... and even though we're in the ghetto and economically depressed area, we save lives and houses, not basements.



Yep.

As I tell the kids who tour the firehouse - a "fire truck" has a big ladder mounted on top, so next time you see a vehicle without one and the other kids call it a "fire truck" you can tell them "No it's not... that's an engine".

Ladder - in this case a mid-mount "straight stick"



"Mid mount" refers to the fact that the turntable (where the ladder turns) is immediately behind the cab.

A rear mount straight stick:



A "tower ladder"



"Tower" refers to the ability to flow water from an elevated position - a task performed in the olden days by a tall woden mast stabilized by ropes with a hose running up it.

A tiller truck - often improperly referred to as a "hook and ladder"



And last but not least, a "Snorkel", or "Articulating aerial device":



All of these can be referred to as "trucks" or "aerials".

Remember, most of the terms we use in the industry date back to the horse drawn days - and beyond.

The actual technical description of what we colloquially refer to as an "engine" is a "triple combination pumper". meaning it has a pump, a water tank and hose... three abilities that used to be performed by separate vehicles.

An example:



And "pumper" refers less to the action of moving water than it does to the means by which water was moved in the olden days - the hand pumper.

You'll see it most prominently out east in some of the older FD's... "Hose Company X" or "Pumper Y"

Depends on whether it's carrying a flammable or inflammable load.  

Waterboys are the fellows who provide liquid refreshment to athletes, and firemen are typically boiler operators on non-nuclear seagoing vessels.