American LaFrance is connected to the company owned by Lysander Button.

Lysander Button became owner of what would be the Button Fire Engine Co in 1841.

He decided to retire in 1882 and sell the entire works, including the rights to his many patents, to Holroyd & Company of Waterford.

Years later, Button fire engines continued to be manufactured by the American Fire Engine Company, which was formed in 1891 by the consolidation of the Button Fire Engine Works, Silsby Manufacturing Company, Ahrens Manufacturing Company, and Clapp & Jones. In 1900, a group of New York investors formed the International Fire Engine Company, which included American Fire Engine, LaFrance Fire Engine Company, and Thomas Manning Jr. & Company.