Heavy Damage Estimate

THE DENVER FIRE MUSEUM in Colorado saw one of its antique pumpers heavily damaged by an engine fire late last week. 

All photos via Denver Fire Museum

The 1953 Seagrave pumper is used for funeral service and is available for hearse duty for any firefighter, active or retired, in the area on request.  On May 4 Dan Farley, a retired Denver FD engineer, was driving it and had just returned from a funeral detail.  He  was still outside on the street getting the truck prepped to be parked back inside the museum when the motor backfired and started a fire in the engine compartment.  "The backfire was a real throaty backfire. I expected the worst when I saw the heat rise from the hood," Farley told the press.

As the DFD was being called, Farley and others in the museum grabbed three fire extinguishers and tried to knock the flames down.  The fire soon burst one of the radiator hoses and the coolant knocked down a large part of the flames.  Engines 1 and 6 responded and finished the job.

The loss will be strongly felt because all of the parts that were damaged are largely unique and will have to be custom fabricated to restore the engine.  Their early estimate is for $100,000 in restoration costs.

All photos via Denver Fire Museum

Channel 9 News covered the fire in this video report that includes an interview with Dan Farley:

Farley also stated that when he went to work for Denver FD in 1977, this was the pumper in service at his first assignment, Station 4.  The Denver Fire Museum has owned E-4 since 1999.

Visit the Denver Fire Museum WEBSITE HERE.
View the museum's photo gallery of the Eng. 4 fire on their Facebook page  HERE.

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Monday Morning – Take a Deep Breath

Recently I was poking through the pages of a newly-discovered (to me, anyway) website for the Extra Alarm Association, the fire buff organization for the Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, area. ( http://www.extraalarm.org/ ).  They have an excellent website that includes a lot of Twin Cities FD history and hundreds of old photographs of past apparatus and fire stations.  I just finished reading their history of their Gamewell street telegraph systems.  Warning:  Don't click on that link unless you have time to get carried away looking through the extensive files.

Back to my report on what I found there in a recent surfing through the website, on the pages for the Minneapolis station rosters I found this unusual piece of apparatus listed as a Smoke Extractor unit:

It is mounted on a 1926 Pierce-Arrow truck cab and chassis and was built by the Minneapolis FD shop.  Personally, I have never heard of a firetruck dedicated to smoke extraction, but then again I am not that well versed in firetruck history.  The title of the unit pretty well explains what it does and a look at those large tubes gives a hint on how it does it.  But that's all I can glean from the photo.

Apparently Smoke Extractor One was an important part of the FD's fleet because here is another photo showing the heavy-duty Hoover mounted on a 1952 Ford chassis.  It is the same set of smoke-sucking equipment that was re-mounted by the FD shop onto the new chassis:

This leaves a few questions in my mind such as, how did this thing work?  When did the MFD stop using it?  Was it really very effective?  When they packed up and left the scene, did they leave one of these signs nailed to the front door?

I'm also wondering if they keep it parked next to the Board-Up unit?  Perhaps one of our readers can help us out with these probing questions and let us know how these things worked.

For now, we need to make sure our own things work and get this equipment checked out.  I'll get the coffee started and then we'll meet back in the day room.

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Fire Engineering – October 1959

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Monday Morning – Talk About An Equipment Check!

Have you ever heard of the Last Resort Fire Department?  It kind of sounds like something out of the Old West and that's just where they are located.  Our friends in Washington State no doubt are familiar with the LRFD because their HQ and main station is in Seattle.

If you haven't figured out yet, it's a very quaint and imaginative name for an organization that saves and restores antique firetrucks with an emphasis on the Seattle FD and immediate area.  According to their WEBSITE, they are in their 44th year of service and have accumulated what they claim is the largest collection of antique motorized fire apparatus in the Pacific Northwest.  Their storage and maintenance shop house about a dozen of their restored pieces including four ladder trucks while some of their collection is also on display in the Seattle Fire Department museum downtown.  From their website:

Our primary mission has always been the preservation of Seattle Fire Department history. Our collection is comprised of several unique fire apparatus from the SFD. Included are Seattle's only Ahrens-Fox, which was fully restored in the mid-1960's, and three of Seattle's tillered aerials – their last wooden aerial – a 1929 Mack, their first metal aerial – a 1937 Seagrave, and their last "conventional-cab" tillered aerial – a 1969 Kenworth/Maxim. We also have the SFD's last city-service ladder truck – a 1950 Kenworth, and what we believe to be the oldest surviving motorized fire apparatus from the SFD – a 1913 Seagrave City Service Ladder. The SFD's only Bulldog Mack is included in our collection, although it has yet to be restored.

We work closely with the Seattle Fire Department, providing apparatus for fire prevention activities, fire station dedications and open houses, as well as recruit graduation ceremonies. In addition, upon request, we transport their horse-drawn and motorized steamers to parades and displays. We strive to promote a professional image in keeping with fire service tradition.

Looks like a great outfit, doesn't it?  I suggest that you take a few minutes and stroll around their informative WEBSITE and take a look at their handiwork and collection.  Lots of good photos if you click around.

And just be glad your Monday morning check sheet isn't as big as the LRFD's.  But we'd better get started on ours now, so while you do that I will get the Bunn-O-Matic fired up for a fresh pot before we meet back in the day room.

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Fire Engineering – May 1953

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Fire Engineering – October 1959

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Fire Engineering – October 1959

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Thursday Morning

Back in February 2009, we posted a story about the paramedics in Lambton, Ontario, taking on the mission of restoring the sole, remaining horse-drawn ambulance in the province.  They are not doing the restoration themselves, but they have been gathering donations and fund-raising to pay for the restoration of the classic ambulance that is housed in the Lambton Heritage Museum.

At the time we wrote:  The ambulance was built in 1908 by the Petrolia Wagon Works Co. and was in use up until the first motorized ambulance was put in service. The ambulance was originally commissioned by the Town of Petrolia and was used to bring the sick and injured to the hospital. It was kept with the fire apparatus at Victoria Hall. The men working in the oil industry surrounding Petrolia were particularly vulnerable to injury in such a dangerous occupation. The ambulance was needed to go out into the oil fields around town to retrieve injured workers and transport them in relative comfort.

We heard from the group yesterday with an update on their activities that have progressed very well over the past two years.

Despite the outward appearance of the buggy, there is still some work to be done and they have commissioned two paintings and are selling the artist-quality prints to help advance the continuing restoration.  One of them is a rendition of the ambulance responding in the oil fields 100 years ago.

The other is just coming available and is a view of Petrolia's 1882 Amoskeag steam pumper (image not yet available).  These are quality prints as reflected by the price, but if you or anybody you know are collectors, then this will be a good  consideration to add.  CLICK HERE to order the ambulance print and when we can, we will publish the link to the steamer page.

For you antique restoration buffs, CLICK HERE for a photo gallery of the restoration job.

Now we need to fast-forward to the 21st century and get our own equipment checked out.  I'm heading for the Bunn-O-Matic…. see you back in the day room.

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Thursday Morning – Vroom, Vrooom!

I meant to show you this three weeks ago, but other stuff kept popping up along with the 9/11 commemorations and it just slowly slid down the InBox pile.  The head of our search team, Mark Donovan came across this unusual antique fire engine that is currently being cared for in Gorham, Maine.  This is Big Red – The Monster Fire Truck.

Big Red has its own Facebook page where we are told that it is taken to parades and other outdoor events and used to generate contributions for several local children's charities.  The owners provide this description of the beast:

The 1937 International fire truck is a 100% operational fire aparatus with 350 gallons of on board water. Big Red was originally in service with the Danville, Ky. Fire Dept. Measuring nearly 40 ft in length, 12 ft 4 in wide and 11 ft 9 and 1/2 inches tall, this "Big Red Monster" weighs in at 35,000 lbs. Unlike most other retired fire engines however, this one was turned into a monster truck powered by Cummins Diesel Engines.

Big Red is owned by Shaw Brothers Construction in Gorham, Maine. Glenn Meehan is the man behind the wheel when Big Red is out doing parades or involved in different events.

This monster has already broken several Guinness World Records including the world's heaviest and longest monster truck.

The body and frame are all original, but that suspension…. wow!  The tires are 66 x 43 x 25.  Just 3-½ yrs. ago it sold at auction for a mere $26,000.  Talk about a great parade piece, eh?

They have a lot of photos on their FB page, so when you get a chance, click on over there and take a peek.

Since they keep it fully operational, I wonder what their daily check sheet looks like?  What do you suppose some of the items on that one are?

Well, we'd better look at our morning checksheets now and make sure our own monsters are ready to go.  I'm going to get some more coffee started, then we'll meet back in the day room.

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"I've Wanted One Since I Was a Boy…"

ASK ANDY SCHILLING OF NEW ATHENS, ILLINOIS, why he bought a retired fire engine three weeks ago and that's what he'll tell you.  But his toy came in mighty handy this past Monday when his son's home had a fire in the basement.

Andy Schilling and his new toy.  (Post-Dispatch photo)

Schilling bought the 1987 Ford pumper equipped with a 750-gallon booster tank for $5,000 from the O'Fallon Fire Department in southern Illinois and before he drove it away, they showed him how to put the pump in gear and charge the line.  Fortunately, as it turned out, he left the tank filled because he primarily wanted the truck to clean off heavy equipment at his hog farm and other chores, as well as having some fun with his grandkids.

But on Monday his whimsical purchase was repaid when fire was discovered in his son's home also located on the farmland.  The fire was in the basement, apparently started by a clothes dryer, and Andy, his son Michael, and a farmhand broke out a basement window and aimed the nozzle at the fire, knocking it down.  The St. Louis Post-Dispatch tells:

Michael Schilling's wife, Nicki, spotted the fire when she returned from an errand. Farm employee Nick Mercer rescued the couple's cat, Charlie, from the house. Michael Schilling ran for the firetruck. His father raced there in his pickup.

"I'm glad we knew how to operate it, because a firetruck is pretty complicated," said Andy Schilling. "It can empty its tank in less than a minute. We put the nozzle on 'spray' and got some good water through the window."

Michael and Nicki Schilling, who were married less than a month ago, are staying on a family property near Marissa while their home is being repaired. Andy Schilling said he had dealt before with small fires on the farm. Having a personal firetruck is a big improvement, he said.

"It seems like I'd grab a fire extinguisher that never worked," said Schilling. "What we have is a play toy with a purpose."

When the first units arrived from the Smithton Fire Protection District, they were surprised to see a pumper from O'Fallon, which is 20 miles away already on the scene.

Read the full story in the Post-Dispatch HERE.

Thanks to Bill J.

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