Raleigh Receives Class 1 Fire Protection Rating

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Big news announced yesterday in this city press release, which I’ve adapted here: The City of Raleigh has received a Public Protection Classification (PPC) Class 1 rating from the Insurance Services Office (ISO). This achievement is the highest rating possible for Raleigh s state of readiness and defense against potential fire risk and property loss.

ISO rates more than 48,000 fire protection districts across the United States and less than 0.4% (204) hold a Class 1 rating.1

For the past eighteen months, ISO has evaluated the city’s ability to prevent, respond to, investigate, and extinguish fires. Moving from a Class 3 rating to a Class 1 establishes the City of Raleigh as a superior fire protection district, and which may result in a cost savings to insurance premium payers.

Potential Cost Savings For Insurance Premiums

Insurers create their own risk model and use the PPC rating to determine their risk, and ultimately, insurance premiums within a fire district. Depending upon the insurer, citizens of Raleigh may see a reduction in their insurance premiums, though the greatest decrease is expected in the commercial property industry.

Fire protection district ratings range from a Class 1 to a Class 10. A Class 1 rating signifies the least risk for an insurer, while a Class 10 indicates that there is essentially no fire protection.

Fire Department, Water System, Emergency Communications Evaluated

ISO evaluates the local fire department, the local water distribution system, and the emergency communications center. The fire department leads the evaluation process and is responsible for 50 percent of the overall score, while water and emergency communications account for 40 percent and 10 percent respectively.

The City of Raleigh Public Utilities Department maintains two water treatment facilities, nineteen elevated water towers, 2,365 miles of water mains, and 20,817 public hydrants. There are also 6,213 privately owned hydrants connected to Raleigh s water distribution system. Both public and private hydrants must meet the same standards and flow capacity requirements during the ISO evaluation.

The Raleigh/Wake Emergency Communications Center received a near perfect rating from ISO. In 2015, they processed 619,499 calls.

Class 1 Fire Department

The City of Raleigh Fire Department operates twenty-nine engines and nine ladders from twenty-eight fire stations. In 2015, they answered 38,053 calls.

In addition to fire suppression, the Raleigh Fire Department provides first responder Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), technical rescue, and haz-mat response services, participates in a regional Urban Search and Rescue Team (USAR), and serves as one of the state’s seven Hazardous Materials Regional Response Teams (RRT). These additional services enhance the fire department s mission, but are not part of the ISO evaluation of fire protection capabilities.

The City of Raleigh has historically maintained a Class 3 rating. The Class 1 rating takes effect August 1, 2016. The next scheduled ISO evaluation will occur around December 2018. Also worth noting is that the rating improvement was achieved at no cost, by a staff of 25 City employees from the three aforementioned City departments.

Notes

1In North Carolina, there are only eight Class 1 fire protection districts out of 1,700+. They include Cary, Charlotte, Fayetteville, Greensboro, High Point, and now Raleigh. (Four of those were attained last year. See prior blog archives post about Cary and Charlotte.)

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Wake County Fire Commission Meeting – Thursday, July 21

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The next meeting of the Wake County Fire Commission is Thursday, July 21, at the Wake County EMS Training Facility, located in the basement of the Wake County Commons Building, 4011 Carya Drive in Raleigh. The meeting starts at 7:00 p.m.

Agenda is below. View the meeting documents.

  • Meeting Called to Order: Chairman Lucius Jones
    • Invocation
    • Roll of Members Present
  • Items of Business
    • Approval of Agenda
    • Recognition of Chief Frank Woods for his years of service to the Wake County Fire Tax District
    • Adoption of Minutes for May 5, 2016 Special Called Meeting Work Session
    • Adoption of Minutes for May 12, 2016 Special Called Meeting Work Session
  • Regular Agenda
    • Changes to the Apparatus CIP Model
    • Replacement and New Appointment to the Communications Committee
  • Information Agenda
    • Fire Tax Financial Report
    • Standing Committee Updates
      • Administrative
      • Apparatus
      • Budget
      • Communications
      • Equipment
      • Facility
      • Staffing and Compensation
      • Steering
      • Training
    • Chair Report
    • Fire Services Director Report
      • Operations Director Report
      • Logistics Manager Report
  • Other Business
  • Public Comments
    • Comments from the public will be received at the time appointed by the Chairman of the Fire Commission for 30 minutes maximum time allotted, with a maximum of 3 minutes per person. A signup sheet for those who wish to speak during the public comments section of the meeting is located at the entrance of the meeting room.
  • Adjournment
    • Next Meeting September 15, 2016
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Updated – North Myrtle Beach’s New Blue & Red Pierce Platform

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July 17
Our friends at North Myrtle Beach Fire Rescue have provided extensive additional details about their new truck, as well as photos and a historical perspective.

The new Truck 714 is a 2016 Pierce Arrow XT mid-mount platform, 95-foot. It features a 2000 GPM Hale pump, a 300 gallon poly tank, a 500HP Detroit (DD13) motor with Allison transmission, and Tac-4 independent suspension.

Features include an Onan 10Kw generator with two 150 cord reels, LED warning lights and head lights, David Clarke headsets and seating for six, and the Pierce Command Zone Multiplex System with monitors inside the cab, at the turntable, and in the basket of the aerial. It also has four cameras (three front, one rear) and a DVR system to provide video recording of fire scenes for training purposes.

It carries 206 feet of ground ladders: two 35′, two 28′, two 16′, one 18′, and one 10′ attic ladder. There s also a custom storage box above the pump panel for a Little Giant ladder, to save on compartment space.


North Myrtle Beach Fire Department photo

Blue Over Red

North Myrtle Beach is a public safety department, where police and fire personnel are cross-trained. This had a lot influence on the look of the truck and some of its features. In particular, the apparatus committee wanted to different themselves from other departments around.

The big craze has been back over red on rigs, but they didn t want that, as they knew neighboring departments going with that or a similar scheme. They wanted a color scheme that was as unique as their status as a public safety department.

After weeks of scouring the Internet for ideas, they found pictures of recently delivered Pierce pumpers in Texas. The trucks had a blue over red scheme and they knew those were the colors for them.

The idea was proposed and immediately accepted. During their first pre-build conference at the Pierce factory, they went through five different shades of blue, until find that a dark metallic blue was what they wanted. The color looked great at night and really popped during the day.


North Myrtle Beach Fire Department photo

And Blue Emergency Lights

The new truck also features a few blue emergency lights, a first for their region and perhaps the entire state of South of Carolina. Blue is a highly effective color for emergency lights and can be seen from much farther away than other colors. We kept red as the primary emergency light color, and used blue for some of the secondary lights.

We chose Whelen for the lighting. The primary light bar configuration uses three Whelen Freedom Mini Light Bars, as they need a lot of side angle lighting because of the city s grid-type of street system.

The rest of the lights are Whelen M6 lights heads, along with Whelen ION light heads mounted in the rub rails around the truck. They also used Whelen scene lights around the truck. Most are powered by 12 volts, independent from the generator. The latter are the lights in the bucket and two removable tripod lights mounted on the body of the truck.


North Myrtle Beach Fire Department photo

The Older Platform

The new Pierce replaces a 1996 KME AerialCat rear-mounted platform (102-foot), equipped with a 2000 GPM Hale pump and a Cummins 450HP motor. It will be moved to an outlying station and become a reserve apparatus designated Truck 744.

The KME was originally purchased off an old US Navy spec and served the city well for twenty years. It was replaced due to age and condition. The limitations of the truck also influenced the change from rear- to mid-mount platform.


North Myrtle Beach Fire Department photo

Originally, the apparatus committee considered another rear-mounted rig. Members had experience working with mid-mounts and a change was considered for improved positioning and better scrub area.

For example, with the KME s three-section ladder, they couldn’t lower the retracted bucket to the ground without hitting a building on many streets in the city. With the Pierce s five-section ladder, the retracted length is much shorter. This allows for such operational uses as a store-front blitz attack, instead of just access to the roof.


North Myrtle Beach Fire Department photo

Newer and Older Ladders

With the addition of the Pierce platform, NMBFD adds a third operational aerial ladder to the roster. It joins a 2009 Spartan/Smeal aerial ladder, 2000/400/75-foot at Station 3, and the 1996 KME. The Smeal was a demo truck purchased in 2010.

Two earlier ladders served the city. From Leonia, NJ, came a 1977 Seagrave rear-mounted ladder (100-foot) with 1000 GPM and 300 gallon tank. Acquisition date to be determined, likely late 1980s or early 1990s. It was disposed in 2011 and donated to Midway Fire Rescue on Pawley s Island/Litchfield Beach, SC, for exclusive use as a training rig.

The Seagrave was photographed below by Jeff Hawkins in March 2007. See uncropped version of Jeff s photo.

The city s first aerial ladder was a 1974 Pirsch convertible with a 100-foot rear-mounted ladder. It was purchased new and was a stick only with no pump or tank. It was the first ladder truck in Horry County.


Left to right, top to bottom, credits: Anchor-Richey, NMBFD, Jeff Hawkins, NMBFD

2016-12-18-nmbfd
Scott Mattson collection

July 8
North Myrtle Beach, SC, recently took delivery of this sharp-looking Pierce Arrow XT mid-mount 95-foot platform. (Pump and tank specs, anyone?) Designated Truck 714, it’ll be assigned to Station 1 on Ocean Drive. It replaces a KME rear-mount platform. (Model year? Specs? Earlier aerials that served the city?)

The new truck is painted in the department’s new blue-over-red color scheme to compliment their status as a public safety department. It even has blue ‘n’ red emergency lights! See larger versions of this factory photo. Or watch their Facebook page for more news on the truck.

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Saturday’s Water Rescues in Raleigh/Wake County

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Here's take one of a list of the water rescues in Raleigh and Wake County, from Saturday morning through early Sunday morning. Awaiting data from Cary. Another post coming about the two rescues of rescuers, on Old Stage Road and Rose Lane.

Address Units Time Notes
Southgate & Proctor E3, L4, R1,
M2, B5, B2		 11:38 a.m. Reported as car stuck in water, with occupants inside. M2 cancelled en route.
Atlantic & Hodges Sq 7, Mini 2, L2 12:26 p.m. Car in very low water. L2 walked occupant out.
2960 Claremont Rd M2 3:02 p.m. Car in water, up to mid-door. Crews walked out to vehicle, and found no occupant.
1001 Wake Town Drive Sq14, L2, R1,
B5, M3(add)		 3:21 p.m. Car in flooded parking lot. Police advised victim was out. Sq14 continued to scene, all other units cleared.
Lake Woodard & Timberlake E12, Sq14, L5,
B2, M2(add)		 3:50 p.m. Dispatched as three people in a tree. Found three people who self-rescued.
Poole & Sunnybrook E12, L8, M2, B1 4:09 p.m. Reported car drove past/through barricades, entered water, and was stranded in water up to roof. M2 cancelled en route.
Anderson & Oxford M3 4:10 p.m. Car parked in flooded lot, no occupant. M2 cancelled en route.
Atlantic & Hodges Sq7, L4, M2(add) 4:14 p.m. Reported as vehicle in water. M2 cancelled en route.
Lumley & Brier Creek E24, L6, R1,
B4, M3(add)		 4:32 p.m. Reported as several vehicles stuck in high water. M3 cancelled en route.
Glenwood & Creedmoor E16, L1 4:34 p.m. Reported as subject trapped in sinking vehicle. E16 found impassible flooding on Creedmoor Road between Glenwood and Crabtree Valley Avenue. Several vehicles in water. Victim had self-evacuated, and was not in distress. L1 cancelled.
Gorman & Avent Ferry E20, L7, M3 4:57 p.m. Reported as police car in flood water. M3 cancelled en route.
708 Hawes Court E6, L2, M2(add) 5:30 p.m. Several people trapped in first and second story apartment building(s). Crews floated out nine people, three cats, and two dogs. M2 was there about an hour. Water was chest high at times.
Lake Wheeler & I-40 E20, E2, L4,
M2, M3(add)		 5:46 p.m. Reported by passing motorist as two vehicles in water, up to windows. M2 cancelled en route.
1988 S. State Street E10, L8, M3 6:02 p.m. Reported as State Street and I-40. M3 cancelled en route.
Sunnybrook & Middle Branch E12, L8, M3 6:06 p.m. Water rescue. E12 and police determined it was a repeat call, for a vehicle found earlier in day. L3 on scene, M3 cancelled en route.
2351 S. Saunders M3 6:11 p.m. Reported as vehicle floating in water.
4200 Blue Ridge Sq7, L3, M2,
M3(add)		 6:19 p.m. M3 cancelled M2, and were in turn cancelled en route.
Wilmington St. & City Farm E1, L4, M3(add) 6:19 p.m. E1 had cleared when M3 arrived.Stalled car in the curve of Keeter Center Drive, just south of the intersection. Two people walked out of water that was mid-door height.
Rose Lane & Maplewood E12, L8, + more 6:58 p.m. RFD
8:23 p.m. RDU
~9:15 p.m. CHFD
10:48 p.m. AFD 		Multi-hour major incident, one person in a tree, then two rescuers stranded, after boat capsized. Mutual aid from RDU (!), Chapel Hill FD, South Orange RS, and Apex FD. See narrative below. Also dispatched for later RFD units as 759 Rose Lane
508 Bailey Drive E2, L4 7:04 p.m. Reported as vehicle stuck in water with person inside.
2505 Atlantic Avenue E9, L2, B5 7:24 p.m. Vehicle stuck in water. Occupant self-evacuated.
Wake Forest & McNeil E9, L4 7:38 p.m. Reported as vehicle submerged in water, with occupant partially out of vehicle.
Edwards Mill and Creedmoor E16, L3 7:57 p.m. Reported as van stranded in water, after complainant tried driving through flooded area. Dispatched again at 8:33 p.m. for E16, L1.
1100 Sunnybrook Rd.   8:00 p.m. Reported as police on scene for water rescue on Walnut Creek Trail.
Peterson Street (off Garner Road) E1, L4, B5 8:38 p.m. Cancelled en route. Reported as vehicle in water.
1823 Garner Road E2, L4, B5 9:15 p.m. Reported as car stranded in water, with occupant inside. Reportedly drove into water, after warning signs had blown away.
Wade Avenue & Edwards Mill Sq14, L7, R1,
M3, B3, WWFD P196		 9:19 p.m. Location was westbound I-40 onto Wade Avenue. Car off of roadway and victim was out of vehicle. Western Wake handled, and Raleigh units were cancelled.
Wake Forest & Hodges E11, L2, M2(add) 10:22 p.m. Reported as vehicle floating in water. M2 cancelled en route.
1608 Riverview E26, EWFD P4 10:52 p.m. Upon arrival, subject out of vehicle with no complaints. Vehicle fully submerged in roadway.
New Bern & Poole E1, L4, B5, M2(add) 11:32 p.m. Reported vehicle in water, unable to locate. Right after units cleared, dispatcher asked them to check Sunnybrook & Middle Branch. Found two males sitting on roof of submerged car in still water. Crews hand-carried raft into water.
3241 Calumet E12, E21, M2(add) 11:11 p.m. Flooded apartment, occupants escorted out.
2414 Wake Forest Road E11, L2, M2(add) 12:14 a.m., Sunday Male subject stranded by surrounding water. He attempted to cross flooded road, was pulled down stream, ended up next to paint store, broke and entered and called 911. Crews paddled from McNeil to rescue.
Barwell Rd. & Shirley St.   1:07 a.m. See EWFD below.
Mutual aid to Zebulon Sq7, M2 6:56 a.m., Sunday See ZFD below.
Atlantic Ave. E11, L2, R1, M3, B5 7:02 a.m., Sunday Reported as vehicle stuck in water.

Wake County

District Address Units Time Notes
CFD 100 Macalyson Ct.   11:39 a.m.  
EWFD Barwell Rd. & Shirley St. P4, P2, C1, Boat 1,
RFD E26		 9:42 p.m. Single vehicle drove through and flooded out, no rescue or people issues.
EWFD Barwell Rd. & Shirley St. P4, P2, C1, Boat 1,
RFD E26, B2, M2(add).		 1:07 a.m., Sunday Vehicle drove past barricade, spun entirely around, and was washed downstream, reported Wake SO. Female subject stuck in a tree. Battalion 2 requested Squad 7 and Mini 2 with boat trailer. Due to location access from Station 26 side, RFD arrived ahead of EWFD, and rescue was made. M2 pulled up to water s edge, attached rope to front of mini-pumper, attached to raft, and retrieved woman. Subject refused medical treatment.
FFD 6700 Fayetteville Road. ???   Cars in water, Garner FD requested for assistance.
FFD Holly Springs & Penny E1, R1, C2 4:19 p.m.  
FFD Johnson Pond & Bells Lake ??? 7:27 p.m.  
FVFD 9701 Lake Wheeler Road ???   Cars in flood water, several on top of their vehicles, after driving into water.
FVFD NC 42 and Mt. Pleasant Roads. ??? 7:25 p.m. Car in flood water. Cary Rescue 2 to scene, for swift water assistance.
FVFD Old Stage Rd & Eric St. GFD
RFD 		6:10 p.m. GFD
6:11 p.m. RFD
7:57 p.m. AFD 		Also RFD Squad 7 and Mini 2, and which became a major incident involving three trapped FFs. Apex FD also responded. See narrative.
FVFD Old Stage & Panther Lake AFD R2 9:16 p.m.  
GFD 7218 Gentle Valley E3, B1 9:53 p.m.  
GFD NC 42 & Barber Bridge E2, R2 3:27 p.m.  
GFD NC 42 & Sauls Road ??? 4:38 p.m.  
GFD Old Stage & Vandora Springs ???   Car in water.
GFD Old Stage & Banks E2, B1,
+CHFD/OCRS team		 2:36 p.m. Car disappeared, two victims in water.
HFD 4089 Country Club Road, also as Dukes Lake & Country Club R9, Boat 22, WFD R110 4:22 p.m.  
HSFD Cass Holt & Rex Sq 1, B1 3:48 p.m.  
HSFD Green Oaks & New Hill AFD Boat 1 + ??? 4:58 p.m.,
5:15 p.m. for AFD		 Car stranded in water, two people rescued. Apex FD swift water with mutual aid. Also cited as Old Holly Springs Road.
SCFD Lake Wheeler and Penny Road R1, FFD E3, C1   Cars stuck in flood waters.
WFD NC 97 at Little River WFD, ZFD, RFD M2(add) 6:56 a.m., Sunday Used raft attached to bumper of mini-pumper. Used ferry angle.
WFFD Harris Road & West Oak Avenue   6:21 p.m.  
ZFD US 64 & Arendell Avenue P91, R9, C1 3:35 p.m. Cars stuck in high flood water.
ZFD US 64 & US 264 P92, C2 5:01 p.m.  
ZFD W. Gannon & Water Plant Rd. P91, R9, C1 ~12:09 a.m., Sunday  
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Yesterday’s Apparatus Collision in Wayne County

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The New Hope Fire Department in Wayne County has posted these pictures of their Engine 1, which was rear-ended yesterday while responding to a call. It was struck by a tractor-drawn gasoline tanker on Highway 70 Bypass near mile marker 336, at the emergency turnaround.

There were no injuries, no was was there any leak from the tanker. The driver/operator was not at fault. The Pierce engine is their first-out engine, and will be out of service for an extended period of time. See this Facebook posting of theirs, for more information.

2016-07-15-nhfd1

2016-07-15-nhfd2
New Hope Fire Department photos

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More Raleigh Recruit Academy Videos

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Who wants to watch some videos? The Raleigh Fire Museum has digitized a few more videos of Raleigh Fire Department recruit academies, from selected years between 1996 and 2002. The converted videotape recordings have been added to our YouTube channel, and are also listed on our web site, along with other academy videos, and historic video and film footage.

Newly added are:

  • 1996 – Academy 19 Graduation
  • 1997 – Academy 20 Graduation
  • 1998 – Academy 22 Graduation (Silent)
  • 2002 – Academy 28 in Action

Watch the videos on your YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/raleighfiremuseum

See more videos as linked from our web site: http://raleighfiremuseum.org/video/

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Revealed – Mystery Vehicles!

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July 10
Answers are…

  • Charlotte Decon 1, GMC step van – October 1996
  • Durham rescue, red car, and small truck – March 1986
  • Greensboro white car, 1979 Chevy Malibu – July 1985
  • Fort Bragg Engine 11 – June 1988
  • Guilford College Chemical 39 – October 1987
  • Raleigh Engine 3, 1986 EEI/Pemfab – 1987

Click to enlarge:


July 2
Can you identify these mystery vehicles, as photographed by reader David Raynor? Timeframe is 1980s and 1990s. And they’re from around North Carolina. Click to enlarge:

2016-07-02-mysterya

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Kinston Public Safety Splits Into Fire, Police Departments

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Belated news from Lenoir County. On July 1, the Kinston Department of Public Safety was split into separate fire and police departments. Local news–Kinston Free Press, WITN–have been covering same. The departments merged in 2004, when a special response unit was created of fourteen cross-trained police officers and firefighters.

The split originated after the retirement of Public Safety Director Bill Johnson on January 1. Since he left, the studied whether a joint department was the best continued direction for the city. Assistant Chief Don Crawford is the new Fire Chief, and Interim Public Safety Director Greg Thompson is new Interim Police Chief.

They’ve created a new administrative staff, which the fire department didn’t really have. (And which is required by state law for certain positions.) The staff is led by a new fire administrative captain, William Barrs, a former city firefighter and most recently a police crime lab detective. The position is now in charge of Fire Administration, which includes ISO ratings, city emergency planning, department safety, public education, and more.

Other staff members include Administrative Commander Earnest Davis and Training Safety Captain Michael Scrufari–both veteran fire department members–and Program Support Assistant Stephanie Harper, transferring from police. The news stories below provide more information about them.

Other details in the stories: The city has ordered a Pierce PUC pumper that’s due in the spring. The $600,000 truck will have a smaller wheel base, but the same amount of space for equipment storage. Readers may have other news.

In the last budget year, the city had these public safety division positions:

  • Administrative – 12
  • Law enforcement – 76
  • Fire and rescue – 47
  • Code enforcement – 4

The fire department has three fire stations with three engines and one ladder company. They’re also a new(er) facilities, erected within the last few years. Call volume? From April 18, 2014 to April 17, 2015, the fire department responded to 1,238 incidents. Mutual aid? Bordering and nearby are Hugo, Kinston Regional Jetport (cross-staffed by maintenance staff, if memory serves), North Lenoir, Southwood, and Wyse Fork.

What other public safety departments still operate around North Carolina? Butner, Havelock, and Morganton come to mind. Earlier ones were Chapel Hill (1971-1993), Durham (1970-1985), Knightdale (2002-2015), Washington (1996-1998), Winston-Salem (1973-1987). Readers, are there others?

Sources:

Related:

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Vintage Photo of Henderson Ford/Howe Engine by Tony Kelly

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Found for sale on eBay is this postcard view of Henderson Engine 5, a 1970s (?) Ford/Howe pumper-tanker. The back reads “North Carolina Fire Apparatus post cards, from the collection of Tony D. Kelly. Collection consists of approximately 200 cards such as this one for trade.” And with his address of “Kinston, NC, 28501.”

The late Tony Kelly was a Kinston firefighter and later Fire Chief (need dates), and a prolific fire apparatus photographer who traded pictures far and wide. Here’s a blog archives posting with a forestry plane picture of his, for example, from the mid 1970s.

Hopefully readers can share information on both (a.) Kelly and his background and (b.) this rig and it’s history. Click to enlarge:


Tony Kelly photo

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Guest Post – My Antique Fire Trucks by George Mills

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By George Mills, a former Chief of Bay Leaf VFD

Last year Mike asked to me write a posting about antique fire trucks. Here’s that article from August 2015, where I wrote about several restored and decaying American LaFrance rigs in North Carolina. This time I’m write about my antiques. Beginning with my first, a toy!

My interest in fire trucks started when I was about two-years old, and my parents gave me a working metal, tractor-drawn, Mack aerial ladder made by Smith Miller for Christmas. I still have it.

Above is a picture of my grandson, Dylan, and me laddering the coffee table. With stabilizers out, we’re at the corner of the building and a safe distance from the collapse zone. (Dylan is the son of a career firefighter in Hickory, NC. My boy started as a Bay Leaf volunteer and is currently assigned to HFD Station 7. His ride is a Rosenbauer engine.)

My interest was fanned further while growing up in Albany, NY, in the 1950s. There were many large fires in the old city and I tried to see each first-hand. Now, after forty-four years in the volunteer fire service, I am proud to say I have a second antique and full-sized fire engine of my own.

It’s is my 1920 American LaFrance Type 75 triple combination, #3281, originally served Painesville, OH. It originally cost $12,000 including the pneumatic tire option of $300, and was retired in 1954. I bought it from the estate of a collector in Pana, IL, in August, 2013. Here’s what I saw, when I first arrived:

I had been looking for a truck of my own when a fellow Bay Leaf firefighter found this on Craigslist, of all places. (There are three of us Bay Leaf volunteers that own antique fire trucks.) I bought it and have been enjoying it ever since.

Below are the six Bay Leaf members who came over to help me get the engine “in station” for the first time. The truck is hidden behind them! (Sorry about the blur. Don’t look too closely Mike Legeros!)

This truck has become a labor of love. It has to be! Ownership is expensive. I have spent nearly as much on the truck as it cost to purchase. Money that will never likely be reflected in its value.

Tires $4,000, hand crank siren $500, bell $1,000, ten gallons transmission grease $200, six gallon oil changes; the list is too long to repeat for fear my wife learns too much. She does enjoy riding on it to Goodberry’s for ice cream with friends, however.

After rebuilding the transmission (above left), brake work (above right), and freeing up the fire pump during the winter of 2013-2014, I took it to Station 1 and fed the waterway on Ladder 25.

That’s 740 GPM from a hydrant. It performed flawlessly pumping water for the first time in at least 31 years and maybe as many as 60 years.

Last summer it drafted 700 GPM at an Old Dominion Historical Fire Society muster at Claytor Lake, VA.

In April, we took it to the firefighter’ parade in Winchester, Virginia, for the 89th Annual Apple Blossom Festival (shown above) and came home with a “Best in Show 1920 to 1939” plaque. In the last two years, I have also paraded my truck in the Christmas parades in Rolesville (2014) and Wake Forest (2015).

Last month, I took the truck to the second annual Fire Truck Day at the North Carolina Transportation Museum. You were there, and took a bunch of pictures, as well as a video. Here’s the parade up Main Street, at the end of the event:

View on YouTube

The truck is always an attraction for kids that love to climb aboard to ring the bell and crank the siren. I enjoy this as well, unlike many antique fire truck owners that post “Do Not Touch” signs all over their rigs and have heart attacks when someone does. They are fire trucks! What can hurt them? (See below, also from Legeros.) I also enjoy demonstrating how easy it is to start by hand with the crank. It helps me stay in touch with the condition of the engine.

One of the benefits of ownership has been meeting new friends and exchanging information about the hobby with them. I am a member of two SPAAMFAA (Society for the Preservation and Appreciation of Antique Motor Fire Apparatus in America) chapters: Old Dominion Historical Fire Society of Virginia, and the Rekindle Society, which covers the Carolinas. Both are great places to make new friends.

As time moves on, I expect to continue to improve the appearance of the truck, reinstalling a reel, adding stripping, adding hand lanterns. It will be endless, unless I buy another one, which may happen sooner than I think!

I invite anyone to contact me if they want to discuss anything about what I have mentioned. g.c.mills.iii@earthlink.net

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