[1][2] Harry W. Huthsing founded the company in 1903 in St Louis as the National Belting & Hose Company.
The company changed its name to the General Fire Truck Corporation in 1926 and began collaborating on fire trucks with other manufacturers, including Pierce-Arrow and Studebaker.
Throughout its production history General used commercial truck chassis from Chevrolet, GMC, Ford, Dodge, Diamond-T, International, Reo, and other manufacturers.
General-Pacific Corporation, a Los Angeles-based subsidiary was established in 1937.
The last General fire truck was built in Detroit in 1956 and the name was changed to General Fire Extinguisher Corporation the following year.