Firegeezer notes: This posting begins a new feature that will be running on Firegeezer in serial format. The title says it all. You’ll figure it out as it progresses. Our first Mystery Minute story was written and contributed by Steve Marshall, an officer with the Meadville, Pennsylvania Fire & Rescue.
THE LEGEND OF OLD RED
by Steve Marshall
Chapter 1
Many of us “Old Salts” have been known to develop deep affections for our fire trucks. It might have been the first truck we ever rode to a call, it might have been the first truck we got to drive, but whatever the reason, some of the attachments have been known to rival marriages in their depth. In fact I’ve known several Old Salts who prefer the company of their engines to that of their wives, but this is the story of one Firefighter who truly loved his machine. It’s said that the man and the truck are still together, somewhere in time, still answering the call for help.
In the early days of modern firefighting, there was a rural fire department in New Hampshire that had served their community for decades. Their one and only pumper was a 1956 open cab Seagrave that they had purchased brand new many years before. The truck was bright red with gold leaf lettering.
The department had always had red fire trucks; after all, that is the proper color for real fire trucks and “The Beast,” as they nicknamed it, was no different. Or so we thought. Boy, were we wrong!
Chapter 2 appears here
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