About us

Tracy Melton and the Melton Fire Group are proud to represent Toyne fire apparatus in portions of the Carolinas. Toyne has been building quality, first class fire apparatus in Breda, Iowa since 1942. Combined with Tracy’s 40+ years of working with local departments to help meet their apparatus needs we are a solid and respected Team.

At the MFG we know your time is extremely valuable, so let us put our over 100 years of combined experience to work for you. We want to earn your business. We want to help you design the right apparatus for your department. Toyne is a true custom fire apparatus builder. You tell us what you need and we’ll design, engineer and build just the right unit for you.

We will be with you every step of the way, from specification writing to the pre-construction conference, to final inspection and beyond.

Our territory includes:

North Carolina: Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Macon, Swain, Jackson, Transylvania, Haywood, Madison, Buncombe, Henderson, Polk, Rutherford, McDowell, Yancey, Mitchell, Avery, Watauga, Caldwell, Burke, Cleveland, Gaston, Lincoln, Catawba, Alexander, Wilkes, Ashe, Alleghany, Surry, Yadkin, Iredell, Davie, Rowan, Mecklenburg, Cabarrus, Union, Anson, Stanley, Davidson, Forsyth, Stokes, Rockingham, Caswell, Guilford, Randolph, Alamance, Chatham, Montgomery, Moore, Lee, Richmond.

TOYNE COMPANY HISTORY

In 1942, Gilbert “Gib” Toyne, the owner of a successful blacksmith shop in the thriving agricultural center of Breda, Iowa, was asked by the nearby community of Schleswig to put together a fire truck body that was mounted on a used Model A Ford chassis. For years, Gib and his crew had been repairing fire trucks built by others, but after delivering his first complete firetruck, other area departments came to him and had his company to construct pumpers and tankers that were custom designed for their specific needs. In a few years, Toyne’s blacksmith business did less blacksmithing and more and more fire truck manufacturing, concentrating on serving the exact needs of rural and city departments in America’s heartland.

First Toyne Truck — Schleswig Model A with Toyne Body

During the remainder of the 1940’s and 1950’s, Iowa’s rural fire service was growing by leaps and bounds, and so was Gib Toyne’s business. In those days front mount pumps and 500 gallon water tanks were pretty much standard options on most of the deliveries. The company out grew the original blacksmith shop building and moved to a new building at Toyne’s current location. Enlarged many times since then, the company now operates with close to 150,000 square feet under roof.

In the 1960’s and 1970’s, more and more units were being sold to previous customers. Now it is common to see many departments in Iowa and across the United States with multiple Toyne’s in their stations.

In the early 1980’s, the company developed a line of stainless steel apparatus for use in the departments who were having issues with rust and corrosion.

Family owned since the conception, Roger Schwabe, a long time Toyne employee, purchased the company from Gib Toyne in1978. The firm is now headed by Roger’s two sons Mike Schwabe President, and Bill Schwabe Vice President. The company philosophy is simple, “BUILT TO TAKE THE CALL”.

To meet the need of demanding departments, Toyne produces pumpers, rescue pumpers, tankers, urban interface vehicles and aerials. Toyne enjoys a unique position in the fire apparatus marketplace as a leading producer of apparatus built to a customer’s specification. Toyne has dealers throughout the USA and Canada.