The Engine 17 Project

Equipment Grab

2011-06-17T07:20:00.000-07:00

So, Dad called me out of the blue yesterday. I'm at the fire department's surplus sale, he says, and asks what I might need, and describes some of the stuff lying around. And the prices. Dirt cheap prices!!

He cleaned up, and sounds like he had more fun than even I would have had. He only found out about the sale the day before, not enough time for me to arrange to be there myself.

Long story short, through the silent-bid process he secured the following for Engine 17:

A ground base for securing a deluge monitor.

A 2.5" siamese.

A 2.5" threaded to 3" Storz elbow.

A triple 2.5" inlet deluge monitor. $150!

Twenty-one lengths of miscellaneous hose. Some are knotted (damaged or unfit for use) but this stuff is mainly for decoration, so it is perfect. $5/roll!

Three lengths hard suction, $15 each (only have room for two, so the odd one is up for re-sale at cost). Three ladders, also $15 each. I would have liked a roof ladder and an extension ladder, but I'm not complaining, since E17 presently has zero ladders.

They also have numerous sets of older used turnouts for sale, but without the proper credentials (active FF and note from your agency to prove it) you can't buy them on the spot. I can arrange the credentials easy, so if the price is right I might grab 2-4 sets for costume use when I have riders in a parade of some such.

Score! Thanks Dad!

Also have a neighbor who is thinking about loaning 17 for standby duty while he does some logging nearby. Depending on cost, we may arrange for him to repair 17's tank-to-pump leak and pneumatic pump shift actuator - making it pump capable for his needs - as payment. We shall see.

Summer is pretty much here. Fingers crossed for progress.

New Blog to Follow

2011-06-01T23:31:00.001-07:00

It's early, way early, but the lovely wife has just started a blog - and I mean "just", like, fifteen minutes ago.

Finding Blue

Her goal? To prove the theory that in the Pacific Northwest, despite the cloudy, foggy, rainy climate, that it is possible on any given day to see at least a little bit of blue sky. She is going to attempt to take a photograph of whatever blue sky can be found, every day, for a year.

Now, we aren't going to necessarily always be around to take these pics, so we'll have to figure out if she wants to get another contributor or two to fill in here and there. Anyway, a big welcome to the wife as she lands in the world of the blogosphere.

Photo credit : (cc-by-nc-nd) Bruno Monginoux

www.Landscape-Photo.net : nature and urban photography, free stock photos

Summer is here

2011-05-03T12:42:00.000-07:00

Engine 17 has been out three times in the past couple of weeks, running short errands to get the winter crud blown out, and ferrying kids to various events where they delighted in the splash of showing up or disembarking in a fire engine.

Too much fun!

Anyway, this post serves to let you know we're still here. Hoping to get a few things done in the coming weeks and months of good weather. Stay tuned.

Wearing a Fire Engine Disguise

2010-11-07T14:41:00.001-08:00

I took my daughter to the high school playoff football game, so she could hang out with her friends. I dropped her off in our little car. The lot was beyond full when we arrived, and the entrance was barricaded. I pulled up alongside the barricades, completely outside of any moving traffic, to let her out. She was rummaging for something for a minute, and a school security person walked over and rapped on my window, telling me to move along.

Now maybe there was a legitimate reason I couldn't be there, but I haven't thought of it yet. I was still in the driver's seat, she was getting out, the car was running, lights on, not remotely appearing that I might be thinking of parking there. But OK, no problem, she grabbed her stuff and I left.

Near the end of the game, she called to tell us she was almost ready to be picked up. I heard her friends chattering, and offered to bring 17 down to pick her up and take some of her friends home. She was all aboard for that plan.

I had completely forgotten about the barricades and security people by the time I arrived, but just as I approached and saw them, trying to figure out where to park, they saw me and just automatically grabbed the barricades, moving them out of the way and waving me through.

Well, OK then!

So I picked up my kid and several of her friends right at the ticket gate. It made quite a scene, not unlike when I picked my boys up after school one day.

Picking your kid up in a fire engine and also taking some of her friends home raises her stock, as well as your own in her eyes and those of her friends, especially the guys. For real? Your dad owns a fire truck? Big fun was had by all, especially since the home team won big.

I promise I wasn't trying to play the traffic folks, really, but that was just too funny to not share.

The Ripening of Squad 6

2010-11-01T18:51:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest tasks in the Engine 17 project is getting her painted red again, or "ripened", from the lime-yellow coat she currently wears.

While that major task awaits, the other unit at my place was successfully ripened today.

As a result of a consolidation of fire protection agencies, the older apparatus in the district still bore markings from the two previous agencies that came together to form a new one. Squad 6 was one of them.

In every other case, the contractor was able to simply remove the old markings and apply new ones, in some cases extending a white stripe on the door with stock decal material. Squad 6 was the only unit, in the 22-vehicle fleet of various colors, that was white with a painted lime-yellow stripe, and the contractor had no stock lime-yellow that would match.

Solution? Cover the entire stripe with a new color. Hey, how about red?

She looks nice with her new stripe, doesn't she?

Welcome, PNW SPAAMFA members

2010-09-29T21:16:00.000-07:00

I got my periodic SPAMMFA PNW newsletter the other day, sat down with the pile of mail to peruse through it.

There, on the second page, with no advance warning, was a couple of paragraphs about Engine 17, her history, and how she came to be in my possession.

I didn't write it. I don't know who did, but they seem to know a lot about me. Oh wait, I think I've about spilled my soul right here in this blog. I'm a bit crazy and I own my own fire engine. What else is there?

What's new? Well, 17 has been given a clean bill of health following a detailed inspection. A few air lines need to be moved so they don't rub, but otherwise she is in remarkably great condition, mechanically. Also found some vintage (heavy!) 2.5" hose sections that are loaded so she isn't quite as naked. Love the classic brass couplings.

That's really all there is for now. If you came here from the SPAAMA newsletter, nice to see you here. Things will be slow over the winter unless I get some historical stuff to talk about. Otherwise, the project is going into hibernation until Spring. Stay tuned.

Parade Report

2010-08-02T21:48:00.001-07:00

When we left off, I was trying to install the Whelen Commander strobe light and found things not exactly in a plug-and-play configuration.

The very next day the job was completed, with help from my very-helpful six year old. Seriously, this is no joke. He was a huge help, holding hardware in the right place for me on the roof while I fiddled with bolts and ratchets down in the cab. Plus, his random stories about unrelated topics diverted my attention from irritating but uninteresting problems that cropped up here and there.

Here he is on the cab roof, making sure we know where the new base is installed. You can see the dirty ring in front of the new base that shows where the previous light was installed, forward of the original beacon placement when 17 was new.

A couple of days later, 17 was patiently hanging out at my fire department's Station 1, out of the way, waiting for parade day. May I take you for a trip down Memory Lane, regarding the First Krang? On the day of the Krang, 17 was parked on this side of the building like this, but pulled all the way up by the yellow bollard guarding the corner of the building. Yes, that's the one I clipped. Embarrassing. Not at all a coincidence that she was parked so far back this time, either.

Finally, parade day! 17's role in this parade, besides being a, well.... a fire engine in a parade.... was to be the entry accompanying the New Blue Parrot drama troupe as they promoted their upcoming show Thoroughly Modern Millie. If you bother to ask if I play a Chinese laborer in this show, whose lines are pretty much all in genuine Chinese, I may or may not comment.

Unsurprisingly, there were other apparatus in the show. I was impressed with the work done to this old pumper by the Shriners, as can be evidenced by the weathered photograph on display showing how it looked when they started on it. It isn't at all faithful as a true restoration, but I can respect the amount of effort.

Another lime-yellow pumper was in the show, one I had not known about from this area. The driver, however, was merely a hired hand with no special interest, and the rig itself was borrowed or rented from its owner to ferry a political candidate.

I tried to make small talk and ask about their rig, sort of expecting some of the same in return, but they were totally disinterested. To them, the pumper may as well have been a rented Corvette of no special significance. Thankfully, though we started out parked side-by-side, we were far apart in the procession.

Here we are perhaps twenty minutes before the start, still setting up banners and other attachments for the run.

About to get underway. I don't remember what I was irritated about, but it probably had something to do with telling people to sit down for the umpteenth time. Whatever, it didn't last. Irritation doesn't last long when you get to drive your own fire engine in a parade.

And thanks for suffering this long post to see a picture of 17 in the parade, Millie cast members strolling along in front. It was a great day.

The one thing sorely missed? That missing Federal Q2B.... just gotta get my hands on one.

First Parade Detail Coming Up

2010-07-08T09:03:00.000-07:00

Ready or not, the date is coming up fast.

The rotating roof light on 17 usually does not rotate, and it would be rather embarrassing for that to happen in a parade. Therefore, I decided to not wait to put the "new" strobe light up before the rig is painted, because who knows how long we'll wait for that.

I removed a bunch of screws from the aluminum strips that hold the interior roof panels in place, and removed the center panel, exposing the nuts that held the roof light in place. Removing it was not much of a chore at all.

It was not until I brought the original equipment Whelen strobe out that I realized that this was not going to be so simple. In the picture below, with the dome removed, you can see the Fresnel lens strobe unit resting on the base. The lens and strobe components underneath are held down by the clamp ring, along with the dome, when installed, but as shown below they just lift right off of the base. So for installation, all you have to do is secure the base, and then you tie everything down to that. Simple.

It was not until I had exposed the underside of the old light's installation that I realized it was mounted in a different location than the strobe had been. Reviewing old photos of sister rigs, along with considering the evidence of old holes visible from under the roof, I confirmed that the original strobe was mounted roughly in the front/back center of the cab roof. The newer light had been placed closer to the front.

OK, no problem. A little sealer, some new holes, we're good.

Then I looked at the Whelen base. It has three tabs spot-welded to the inside, about halfway up (not along the bottom edge). And there were only two holes in the original installation.

Fabricating something to make this work, or simply using long bolts, will not be a problem. But the two holes on the roof and three inside the base are not plug and play compatible, so I couldn't finish the job with equipment on hand. Probably will just go with three long bolts.

Here's a picture before the old "new" light was removed, and a picture of where the new "old" light will go that I snapped after realizing I couldn't get the job done that day. Until I cobble something together, poor Engine 17 is feeling a little naked without a roof warning light at the moment.

It isn't much, but some work is getting done at last.

17 Gets a Visitor

2010-06-28T00:43:00.001-07:00

I am having a heck of a time finding the time to get work done on 17, as the best days of the season slip by with so many other things going on. Hence, the sparse updates, precisely when I hoped to have the most going on.

Disappointingly, of the four or five SPAAMFAA and collector's auto meet events coming up this summer in the area that I would have liked to have attended with 17, every single one is scheduled on a day that I am scheduled to work. What a serious drag! I haven't ruled out arranging the time off, but vacation time is precious, you know. Still, drats!

I still take 17 out every few weeks, though. And she received a visitor a few days ago when Engine 3 made a courtesy call up here to Station 6.

It's an art project, but 17 played a bit part

2010-06-14T23:11:00.000-07:00

This is only barely related to 17, but it seems like forever since I've posted, and I have no updates on work or the project at the moment. Hopefully this will tide you over until more news comes along.

My daughter is a fantastic artist, improving by leaps and bounds every time she takes something new on.

So, do you remember this picture from the February post "Living the Dream"?

Well, the daughter took this picture to school and managed to create the following fantastic bit of work:
Having kids is so cool. So, so cool. They're amazing.

Maybe if you manage to catch a ride in 17, she'll sketch you too.

Another new blog to follow

2010-05-12T21:54:00.000-07:00

Randy made the jump from his rig having a Facebook page, to also having a blog for his sweet 1958 FWD pumper. I have no words of value to add on top of what he already has to say about the story of his pumper, so it's best if I don't try.

Check it out:

Engine Company 1102

We've Moved!

2010-05-02T21:56:00.000-07:00

You don't have to update your bookmarks. The old e17project.blogspot.com address still will get you here. But the new and much easier to remember address of this blog is now:

e17p.org

Spent part of the day at the semi-annual apparatus re-certification "roadeo". My so-called take-home unit, Squad 6 (center of attention below), made an appearance there along with a sampling of our other apparatus and specialty units.

The "roadeo" course, that you can't see because it is mostly behind the camera, consists of a variety of tests, twists, decreasing clearances, offset alley, backing tasks... always fun. I seriously considered taking 17 and "recertifying" on the rodeo course with her. Dang it... I really should have done that, just because.

It was a fun ride today on the course, thanks for tagging along.

Don't feel pressured

2010-05-01T20:06:00.000-07:00

Based on advice handed down by The Happy Medic in a post comment, I have added a PayPal donate button over on the right sidebar, for anyone who stumbles in here and feels moved, by whatever moves them, to contribute to the cause.

I avoided doing that up until now, because I never want anyone to feel pressured to help. If you just want to drop in and read about me fumbling around with something I never tried before, like, you know, owning a fire engine, and laugh at my expense once in a while, well that is totally fine with me. I was goofy enough to get into this and it is my problem to handle it, I know that.

But now that I have gone ahead and added the button, I think it is reasonable to talk a little more about my overall general plans for 17, so anyone who does put a few coins in the hat knows what they're helping to do.

At this time, I am not planning an expensive major strip-to-the-frame, sandblasting and reassembly to like-new condition. Despite some rough treatment in 17's later in-service years, she is still in solid and good running condition. There are no significant rust issues, even in the rear wheel well area compartments. The are no significant bodywork issues, other than the tire chain damage over the right rear wheel well. The engine is running great (I drove her several miles on the freeway today, and she ran straight and true at 63MPH).

Here's what I hope to do, in order of priority:

Paint her red (includes repairing tire chain damage, and replica 1970-era TFD markings)
Fix the leaking booster tank, and make the pump operational (minor pump shift problem)
Replace/restore/repair parts and accessories (the biggest job, after painting)
Lastly, after all else is more or less done, stock her with 70's or early 80's vintage equipment

When completed (hah, like that ever happens in a project like this), my intent is that 17 will resemble a well-cared-for but working in-service pumper, not a trailer queen. A few remaining dings, scratches and scuffs will fit that intended character just fine. I will run her in parades in Tacoma as well as local to where I live, take her to SPAAMFAA musters and car shows, and make her available to area firefighters and fire department supporters for weddings/funerals or other events. If you're a local donor, I'm sure we can think of something fun to do with 17 to pay some of it back.

So, I see three major categories of expenses. (1) Paint/Markings, (2) Pump/Tank, (3) Parts/Accessories. The fourth category, stocking equipment, is off the radar right now.

If you feel so moved to contribute to the cause, I will place your contribution into the category of your choice. If you don't choose one, I will place it by highest priority. I do not expect others to fund my folly without my help, though. I will pay for things as my personal budget allows with or without contributions, but note that I will also immediately put in matching funds (up to my fiscal capability) any time donations are received, which should double the impact of anything you feel like putting in.

This post will be updated going forward.

I will list below the amount of donations received to date. Also, under the donation button, I will list the amount of funds currently donated to each category not yet expended. I will also list, with your permission, your name (or any other name you wish to be credited) with the amount of the donation.

Work done will be discussed on regular posts, with costs detailed.

To be clear, again, you don't have to contribute, please feel no pressure. But I would be foolish to not allow others the chance if that's what they really want to do.

Thanks for coming along on the ride.

Donations as of 5/2/2009:

Paint/Markings: $0.00
Tank/Pump: $0.00
Parts/Accessories: $0.00
Equipment: $0.00

Donors:

Pictures, a Phone Call, and Getting Over It

2010-04-30T18:56:00.000-07:00

We're actually going to do those in reverse.

After re-reading the last post, seeing once again the oft-repeated apologies aimed to the Tacoma guys of days past for being essentially crazy back in the day near the end of it, I felt like those comments derailed the post. It's over. I'm just not going to do that any more. It was over twenty years ago. I was an idiot, I was lucky, some of the guys helped me, I'm way past it, and am now a veteran firefighter who has by now paid it all back. No more apologizing about it.

OK, then.

Last night I got an email from the current owner of one of 17's identical sisters in Florida. You can see a picture of that pumper in her new life here. It seems they might be willing to assist me in the work by sending along photos of their pumper, which theoretically has not been modified or abused as much as 17, so I can set things right and obtain proper matching equipment to replace missing things. That was Good News.

But that was just a precursor to today's out-of-the-blue phone call from the Tacoma Fire Department. Apparently.... apparently.... they may still have one of the other identical sisters in storage somewhere after all. The person I talked to thought TFD's was at the old Station 12, but I was at old 12's about a month ago on my own for this very purpose, and saw no apparatus in the building (though the old Truck 3, a 1980's Mack CF, is sadly rotting away in the weather out back). Still, the figurative door is open a crack that there may still be one of 17's sisters around, and now I know for sure that someone is checking into that for me and will help me arrange access to it -- if the rumor proves true. This may end up being Great News. We shall see. Fingers crossed.

Finally, another batch of pictures. The thumbnails are small because there are so many. Click on any of them for a big version.

I forgot to grab a picture of these before, but for some reason all of the tailboard clearance lights were removed except the corners. All three off the center, and both of the side lights. Did these disappear when the upper lights went away and someone put those amber ones on? Weird. Guess I'm looking for five proper-vintage red clearance lights now.

I was about to back her up from being out today, and asked my wife to spot me since the kids were around. Then I remembered all of a sudden the back-up horn buttons in the back. Before OSHA and whoever else declared the end of tailboard riding - even for backing into quarters - these pumpers had small horn buttons on the back for a riding spotter to signal the driver. How well I remember as a kid, Engine 8 would pull up, the officer would get out and go into the station, while the jumpseat guy would go back and jump onto the tailboard. the engine would pull forward across the road into position, the tailboard guy would give three honks to signal OK to back up, and the driver would acknowledge with three quick chirps of the air horn. When backed in, the tailboard guy would honk once for stop. If the tailboard guy needed you to go forward again, it was two honks, but that was rare.

Anyway, the memory suddenly splashed into my awareness and I went to check for them. Unsurprisingly, the buttons are gone. The picture above shows the hole on one of the sides in back where they used to be.

Here's the little speaker that the current parade siren is hooked up to. You can see that it is positioned effectively to freak out the guy in the jumpseat.

Another loose wire that went somewhere for something.

I thought one of the airhorns wasn't working, and checked the air lines, but they seem all intact. So I had one of my sons test the horns while I stood on the front bumper. To my chagrin, after reporting one of the horns disconnected, I have to report my error: They both work. But they are still out of tune and sound like delivery truck horns.

Another shot of the air line under the cab roof in back. This puzzled me. The air line is tapped here, but the tap is capped off now and goes nowhere. I cannot for the life of me figure out where a third line from the air horns would have gone, or why. To be clear, this is after the valve, so the capped tap shown would only get air while the horns were being blown. Anyone???

I have no idea what this access panel is for, there does not appear to be anything useful that can be seen or manipulated through here. But you get another view of the dashboard, including a better shot of the dash-top gauge with the broken housing.

I have no idea what this is for, either. It involves moving air for something. Another cooling air intake? It seems like every time I poke around on 17 I find something else I don't know about. This is a symptom of being a long time firefighter, too. After five years on the job, many think they know it all, but some of us spend every year realizing how much we still don't know, and it the more you learn the more you again realize you don't know. Seventeen years of this now for me....it's kind of scary and sobering, actually.

And my parting shot, fueling at the local country store up the road from my place. Always creates a minor stir there when I bring 17 over for fuel. The owner is a firefighter himself for a neighboring district, so we always seem to chat about the latest goings on.

Thanks for coming along on the ride. What else will we realize that we don't know before the day is over?

Back in the Battalion

2010-04-27T07:00:00.000-07:00

Not related to Engine 17 in the slightest, but amusing anyway.

I'd been gone from the Pacific Northwest for a long time, but now that I am back, it is nice to make up old connections again.

Sister has now joined the volunteer canteen/rehab unit run by the Tacoma Fire Buffs, is moving along nicely in her bid to change careers and finally get into the emergency services, and is currently hip-deep in EMT class. I had a chance to meet with several of the group members recently, and several seemed amused at the stories I shared of days gone by. It's easy to be amused today at things that were not amusing twenty years ago, though.

Accordingly, I recently got this memo from the group:

Tacoma/Pierce County Fire Buff Battalion

April 17, 2010

Subject: Frank (last name withheld by request)

Dear Sir,

It has come to this club's attention that you seem to have some past and present interests in the Tacoma/Pierce County Fire Buff Battalion. We are a very strictly run club, who not only play by the most serious and strictest rules, but create them.

Therefore your interest raised much discussion amongst our membership, at our last meeting on April 17, 2010. Needless to say some of the membership had met you in person. Yet others had to pass on important observations and insights, some were pro others con. So after several rounds of gut wrenching laughing, I, Cat Urbon, current President of the Tacoma/Pierce County Fire Buff Battalion called for a motion to be placed on the floor. Kenn Smith, long time firefighter, and newly retired (who remembers the crazy kid on the bike) put a motion on the floor to accept you into the club under the guidelines of and as Honorary Member, this motion was seconded by Bob Urbon. Upon voting you were unanimously accepted.

Furthermore you will be entitled to a copy of our monthly newsletter, allowed to respond to fires when in town (NO BIKE, RADIO OR SIREN PLEASE), and will be hereby nicknamed Sparky, Flash's brother. I would like to personally congratulate and welcome you into the insanity.

(signed)
Cat Urbon, President

I don't even know what happened to that old bike. But I've got my own fire engine now, and they didn't say I couldn't bring that, so who cares?

OK, that was wry sarcasm, all right? Just making sure.

On a serious note, I once again repeat my thanks to Tacoma firefighters of days gone by who tolerated me and kept me alive until I became useful to the service later on, or at least not in the way any more.

If you had told me twenty years ago that I would eventually live in an active fire station and be provided in-service apparatus by the department to run calls - well let me tell you that running an active fire station (chores, maintenance, upkeep, etc) single-handedly while still holding down a full time job, it's a LOT of work - but nonetheless I know it is a very cool gig to have and I am very lucky to have been chosen and have the opportunity to serve my current agency in this way.

More work to come

2010-04-21T19:28:00.001-07:00

I checked the electric hose reel rewind. It works. Hurrah!

I crawled on the ground under the cab to look closer at the hardware behind the leaking air from the brake pedal, which looks fairly straightforward. However, while under there, I took note of two unrelated wires simply clipped off and wrapped around other parts to keep them out of the way. No idea what they were for, where they go, but I suspect they are related to how many things in the cab don't work.

So, that curiosity got me to poke my head under the dash for the first time.

Mother of Hector, I wish I hadn't seen that! Oh man...... it is a jumbled mess. Looks like five or six amateurs, each with different ideas about how things are done, ran wiring to little projects here and there over the years, since 17's Tacoma days (I can't imagine the Tacoma Fire Garage techs allowing this!). Some stuff is hanging or wrapped around other stuff, some wires are clipped short, some terminals simply pulled out. Wires change colors between the butt splices, and are jammed through openings not intended for wiring. Relays and other widgets are affixed under the dash but with no wires attached at all. Wow.

New task: Rewire just about everything under the dash.

What a MESS.

Thanks for coming along on the ride, but hand me those wire strippers, will ya?

Pictures of the work to come

2010-04-20T18:49:00.001-07:00

Had 17 out for some pictures today, as requested by the new insurance carrier. Here's all four sides. I made these thumbnails, and all those to follow, small, because this post has a lot of pictures. Click any of them for a larger version.

As long as I had her out, I did a walk around to once again get my head around the work to be done.

Mechanically, these are the issues I know of that one can't easily take pictures of:

~~There is a minor but audible air leak while the brake pedal is pressed.~~ - had this one explained in the comments.
Major crack in plumbing from tank to pump, tank cannot carry water.
Pump will not engage, prior owner indicated a (minor?) actuator problem.
~~Engine surges up and down for about 15 seconds after a cold start.~~ - also had this one explained in the comments.
Primary air system leaks, takes about two minutes to build pressure to release the brakes.
~~One of the air horns is not operating, the other is not tuned correctly.~~ - turns out both work, but both are out of tune.
Left windshield wiper operates only one direction. If you put it back and turn it on again, you get one swipe.
The compression/retard brake pedal has no effect, and does not act to slow the pumper.
Rotating red light on the roof sometimes stalls and will not rotate. Being replaced anyway, so no big deal.
Officer's side spotlight power is tied to the same source as the high beam wig-wag flasher. Wig wags off = no officer's spotlight.

And then here are the visual items requiring attention of various priorities:

Capped outlet for Stang water cannon visible over the crow's nest. Just under that, a capped outlet into the hose bed, and right there in the forefront, a capped outlet at the rear step. The left side rear outlet is still in service, though.

Not sure why someone put amber DOT clearance lights back here, as they should be red. The directional alternating flashers used to be here, but Tacoma removed them and installed newer style 360 strobe lights (amber on the right, red on the left) around 1985 or so. The flat bracket just above the clearance light is a TFD custom job, installed to hold those new strobes. Unsurprisingly, the strobes are now also gone, skyped by a previous owner to use somewhere else.

Argh. Tire chain damage. This body/paint area is the worst of the entire pumper.

Rust on the tow hooks. Not hard to fix. There's incidental rust elsewhere, of course.

The Krang. A nice ALF Owners Network member sent me a clearance light to replace the one I sheared off. From the sounds of things that I've heard while figuring out how to fix this, it probably won't be too hard to handle. Also obvious here is the scratches and rust on the fender kick plate, and the naked pedestal waiting for a Federal Q2B to once again be installed.

A pathetic amount of booster hose, and an equally pathetic booster hose nozzle. The more I am around 17, the more I think she must have been relegated to mostly grass fire duty before her final retirement.

Hose bed needs a new oak tray. I forgot again to test to see if the electric hose reel rewind is operative.

Dashboard is a bit rusty, along with gunk from previous sundry things glued/taped to the dash, and the defrost air vent directional vane insert is missing from the officer's side.

Other side of the dash. Ladder rack down indicator light is missing. More rust. And one of the dash-mount gauges has a broken housing (but still functions).

Fuel gauge occasionally opts to tell me there is fuel, but usually doesn't. At best, with a full tank, it once told me I had a quarter tank.

I don't know what used to be in this blank hole. The little black box on the lower left is a momentary siren controller, connected to a wimpy electronic speaker mounted behind the left jumpseat. My guess is that it was intended to be used for parade sound effects. It makes four authentic sounds depending on the button pushed, but you have to hold the button down to keep it going. It's main use now is startling the yeebers out of a passenger in the left jumpseat. It will go away at whatever point I obtain and reinstall that Q2B.

I don't need to describe what here is non-stock. Several of these toggle switches now go nowhere or do nothing. The console light in top center comes on when it feels like it.

AO's spotlight does not work at all, and would be hard (impossible) to fully manipulate with that major piece of the controller handle missing.

This is not a maintenance issue, but a neat tie to 17's Tacoma past that I only noticed for the first time today. This is (or rather, was) the phone number to the Poison Information line at the Mary Bridge Children's Hospital in Tacoma. The age of this label is given away in that the first two digits are letters instead of numbers (BR2-1281 = 272-1281). This label is affixed to the inside center of the cab roof.

Hah! The hydraulic ladder rack works perfectly. Just need some ladders so it doesn't look naked.

All rear tail light, back-up light, and brake light lenses are cracked like this, though thankfully all are still intact with no gaping holes.

Missing a few widgets here on the pump panel.

So...... that's what I'm up against. It's so, so worth it, though.

Thanks for coming along on the ride. Don't forget to read the previous post below, still seeking your thoughts and opinions on the painting project.

A bit of a situation, opinions sought

2010-04-19T22:48:00.000-07:00

I really don't have the funds to paint 17 red right now. I could possibly go further into debt to get it done, but that is not fiscally responsible. Still, my fellow firefighting friend Art seems ready to do the job and give me a pretty reasonable deal on it. For sure, I can and will do everything I can to bring the costs down, by removing trim and attachments, masking, etc.

But here's the deal. I have discovered that a former Tacoma firefighter who will for now remain un-named, but with a long history at Tacoma Station 8 when I was a kid, still engages in his old moonlighting job and hobby, doing pinstriping and vehicle lettering, with real paint, by hand, the old-fashioned way. It would be sweet poetry to get 17's original markings restored by him, but getting 17 red has to come first. At least the outer cab and body. The cab interior, jumpseat interior and hosebed can wait if necessary for this to happen.

I don't know how much longer he'll be doing this. I don't want to wait years to get it done and miss this opportunity. Certainly I can probably find someone else to do the job if he can't or doesn't want to. Still... it is a neat situation - with an expiration date.

So... looking for opinions. Do I go into further into debt and get it done? Ignore the sentimental side, and stay fiscally smart? Is it pretentious of me to consider allowing donations (I've pointedly avoided this so far), in order to move this along?

I'm glad you're all along with me for the ride. If you could share your thoughts with me now, I would appreciate it very much.

Sisters of Engine 17

2010-04-04T01:53:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the community at FirePics.net, I have been able to secure photos of two of Engine 17's identical Tacoma sisters, and can finally share closer detailed examples of what she looked like before being painted white over lime green. However, in both cases, the pictures were taken late, so the period touches such as hand-lettered numbers and doors are long gone.

First we have a unit placarded as Engine 7, but if you look at the lower rear compartment you can see where the large decal "16" was either painted over or removed. Engine 7, as I recall, had one of the sisters at the same time Engine 16 did, and they were both replaced close together, in 1989, I think. If I had to guess, extending myself way into conjectureland, this photo is from around 1990, after both rigs had been replaced, and for whatever reason the new E7 was out for maintenance and old E16 was filling in as a reserve rig. There is evidence of body or paint damage, as the AO's compartment and left rear fender are a darker shade of red, as is the nose between the skirt and windshield. This pic does show, however, the Stang cannon and alternating red lights above the windshield that have disappeared from Engine 17. No idea where this rig is today, or if she still exists.

Photo Credit: "Big Dave"

Second is another of the sisters, but I have no idea which one she ever was. The owner of this photo indicated that the picture was taken around 2000, in Seattle. So, ten years ago, one of the sisters was accounted for there. What caught my eye quickly was that the hand-painted yellow trim lines are still on the rear compartment doors, when as far as I knew they had been removed from all the rigs when decals went into vogue. The Stang cannon is gone, the crosslays are empty, the Q2B is gone and replaced with something else. The silver paint over the rear wheel is not original, and the front bumper is pushed up slightly. The pump panel, however, has been "over-restored" with a sheet metal backing that is not original, and as far as I know was never done on one of these sisters while in Tacoma. I wish I knew the disposition of this engine.

Photos Credit: "Brian Birmingham"

Last up is an unrelated treat that also came up at FirePics. This is the 1976 American LaFrance Century Telesqurt that replaced my Engine 17 in 1976, and is the 17 that I remember from my childhood. Since this engine was #17 and bought in 1976 ("17, 76"), she was given distinctive bicentennial markings that included the blue stars on the roof and Squrt, and a "17" on the back of the Squrt circled with blue stars. I love the blue-painted electronic siren on the roof, I had forgotten that touch, and I had also forgotten (or never noticed before) that this engine also had yellow trim lines on her compartment doors like the 1970 batch. If you recall my interpretation of Station 17 history earlier in the blog, you'll remember that Truck 5 was supposed to have been started up there, but never happened. In 1976, this engine, along with Engine 11 (the other side of south Tacoma), were given Telesqurts, and I can only surmise that this was a compromise for never getting Truck 5 in service. No idea where this rig went after her Tacoma service.

Photo Credit: "Big Dave"

With the arrival of the new 17, my Engine 17 was reassigned for the first time, and would respond as Engine 9 for the next four years until being replaced by a Mack CF (one of Tacoma's first lime-yellow apparatus), and then would move to Station 10 for the next seven years to wrap up her Tacoma front-line career.

Bits and pieces...... bits and pieces.

New blogs to follow

2010-03-31T12:39:00.000-07:00

Just found the blog of fellow FirePics.net member and private fire engine owner Chuck, who picked up a beautiful 1972 Mack CF just before Christmas last year. You will now find his blog in the blogroll list to the right.

Nice to see I am not alone in the fire engine ownership blogosphere.

Check it out: Mack CF

Following that, I put in some time on some more concerted searching, and turned up three more related blogs.

This one is about a very unique 1965 Ford/Wesco pumper that was in service not far at all from where I live today, and which has returned to the Pacific Northwest from a sojourn to Alaska.

Check it out: Project Fire 32

Additional information on Fire 32 can also be found here.

Next I turned up another American LaFrance, a 1954 Type 700 canopy cab pumper owned by Batesville AR from the day it was new until it was sold at auction in 2001.

Check it out: CFD Engine 33

And after finding the CFD E33 story, I found it linked to yet another American LaFrance being restored, a 1941 Type 500 from Chesterton IN that is apparently good friends with CFD Engine 33.

Check it out: Chesterton Engine 1

Blast from the past

2010-03-29T11:44:00.000-07:00

I've been in Tacoma for a few days, and even caught a structure fire with my sister, getting to help her out with the canteen unit. It was a very strange feeling for me, being right there after it was over, watching the guys drain and roll hose. You're not supposed to stand around when there's work to be done, and I repeatedly found myself absently going for a line to break couplings, drain, roll, collect SCBAs to clean up and refill, all that. No, not my agency, not dressed for it, but dang I sure felt bad standing around, kept waiting for someone to gripe about what the heck Frank is doing not helping, who does he think he is being lazy? Weird.

Anyway, today sister and I met this morning to try to catch Joe Stiles, who now works in Fire Prevention - whose offices are fittingly at the building which used to be the fire station where Engine 17 started out with Tacoma.

Luckily, Joe was there. I didn't tell him this when I was there, but I think I had about as much trouble recognizing him that he did with me. He figured out who I was because sister was right there, but he does not look nearly as old as I assumed he would. Joe said he was fixing to read this blog not even 15 minutes before we showed up unannounced, so he's undoubtedly going to read this: Dude, you have not aged a day... on the outside, anyway!

We actually caught a 2-for-1 out of it. Unknown to me, the also-legendary Brian Trunk is also there now, at the desk next to Joe's. What a trip on the wayback machine that was for me. And here we all are:

Sister, Me, Joe, Brian.

It was great to have a chance to meet them again after all this time, and apologize for being the goofball I was and all the trouble I caused. They were graceful and downplayed it, but I know there is more than one way to define "enthusiastic".

Sister also grabbed a shot of me standing where Engine 17 first responded from in 1970. But since this is office space now, only the apron ramp in front gives a clue that this used to be Station 17.

The flat nondescript wall gives little clue

that this used to be where E17 rolled out.

I made one more stop later that day, to try to catch Ben Baltazar at Station 6, where Joe said he worked. Wrong shift, missed him. But, just like at the fire the other night, it wasn't hard to find people who - even if they had never met me personally - still knew who I was. Two of the guys at 6's actually remembered me personally after all this time, and also gracefully excused my antics, but I was glad to be able to continue the Apology Tour 2010 even though it's been over 20 years. Amusingly, though, just as they might have seemed ready to accept me as normal, they found out I bought an old Tacoma pumper. So I'm back to being nuts, I guess. :)

So, those of you on TFD now or ever before, as you guys are being dragged in here with my apologies for the rambling tripe that passes for a blog when I'm not working on Engine 17.... this one's for you, too: Sorry, and thanks for keeping me alive despite my best efforts to get dead early. I've spent the last seventeen years since I got the badge, trying to make up for it. Maybe one day I'll feel the debt has been repaid. If not, tell me when you're working, and I'll arrange to drop by with apple pie and ice cream for your crew.

And one more friendly shout out on behalf of the crew at 6's: Tacoma, stop teasing and give them their new engine, already!

Tacoma's Newest Engine 10

2010-03-28T11:52:00.000-07:00

Tacoma Fire Department has invited all interested to attend the Housing Ceremony for the New Engine 10.

What: New Engine 10 Housing Cermony
When: Tuesday March 30, 2010, 09:00
Where: 7247 South Park Ave

The star of this blog, Engine 17, was Tacoma's Engine 10 at the time of her first retirement, in 1987. She was replaced by a lime-green 1987 Thibault pumper, which was (as far as I know) itself replaced at least once before 1996, when E10 then got the pumper that is being retired tomorrow (on the left below).

So Tacoma's new Engine 10 (on the right, above), will be (again, as far as I know) Tacoma's 4th E10 since the venerable American LaFrance was placed into reserve in 1987 and then sold in 1989.

The new pumper looks great!

If I had known about this event a little earlier, I would have tried to bring 17 for an appearance, but I doubt my work schedule would have allowed it anyway.

Hope all who can attend have a good time. Chances are excellent that the gig will be interrupted at least once, though, as 10's is a very busy house!

Other apparatus at the house

2010-03-06T10:04:00.001-08:00

One of the other district units was up at Station 6 for a practice drill a few days ago, and the event highlighted the strange, warped perspective my young boys have adopted from living in a fire station.

Tender 4 (Tanker 4 for those not on the left coast) arrived, driving past the large living room windows, in clear view of where the 3-year-old and 6-year-old were playing Wii Fit. The big, shiny red truck passed right through their field of vision, just six feet outside the windows, and they didn't even bat an eye. Kept right on playing.

About twenty minutes later, a locksmith showed up for an appointment in his nondescript white van.

Both boys dropped what they were doing and came outside to see what the white van was all about.

Huh?

Two little boys oblivious to a fire truck in their own driveway, but who get wound up when a plain white van pulls in?

Squad 6 in quarters, Tender 4 visiting,
and the exciting locksmith van.

That's just bizarre. I guess they've acclimated.

On a slightly unrelated note, I apologize, but this slipped my mind when I discussed the other fire truck at my house.

There is another vehicle owned by the fire district that lives at Station 6 where we live, but it only gets used seasonally, and even then gets virtually no public exposure whatsoever. It does have a warning light on it, and has unit ID markings. A strike against it is its nontraditional green color. One of the things I like about it is its throwback open cab configuration, but it has a hard time getting up to any kind of respectable speed, and is a seriously rough ride. Sadly, it has virtually no storage space, and is really only good for one specific function.

What do we call it?

Lawn Mower 6.

The rabbits and moles on the big lawn may or may not
appreciate being warned out the way, when
Lawn Mower 6 responds Code 2 to staff the Squad.

Living the dream

2010-02-26T18:24:00.000-08:00

This morning I drove all four of my boys to school in Engine 17. It's been about a month since we turned a wheel, so it was high time to get 17 out and run her around a bit.

I had promised the boys I would eventually do it, and earlier this week we finally picked today as the big day. It was quite anticipated. Unsurprisingly, our arrival amongst the family sedans and minivans dropping off other students created a minor stir. Young children with mouths literally open, and double-takes from most everyone else. The two little boys in front were grinning widely as they got out, and the two oldest emerged from the jumpseats with style, and retrieved their backpacks from the compartments they had stored them in. Two parents approached us to ask about E17 (is this yours??) and look her over. Fire Engine Envy.

I commented on my personal Facebook status about this morning's event, and got some nice replies. One of them laughed and said "you are living your dream"!

I guess I am. We have been very fortunate in so many ways.

But, I don't think I was living my dream this morning as much as I was imposing my childhood dream on my own children.

Not that they seem to mind. Judging by their faces: No problem, Dad!

I returned later in the morning to retrieve the 3-year-old from preschool, and this time brought the 1-year-old. Two car seats strapped in the front of a fire engine cab are very amusing to behold, and brutally cute when their occupants are all smiles.

Picked the rest of the boys up again at the end of the day, where the actions were repeated all over again. The 11-year-old got out there quick and made a show of standing on the running board while E17 idled and we waited for the other two. What a show off. Reminds me of myself.

Here is the end of February...... looking forward to warmer weather and opportunities to do some work on the old girl.

Chief can't help it

2010-02-23T16:15:00.000-08:00

Seeing as how we live in a county-owned home that serves as a fire station, we are subject to the occasional inspection to verify we're not tearing up taxpayer-owned property, just as the dorm-room dweller resident firefighters at the traditional fire stations have to allow periodic inspections of their rooms. Essentially, the Chief comes through to see that we are not putting holes in the walls like rock stars at a hotel, and are maintaining the fixtures, keeping the gutters clean, etc.

Chief came by for the regular inspection yesterday, and we had the place shined up pretty nice just as anyone does anywhere when the Chief is coming. After we finished the walk through and he had notes on what needed attention or repair, we were outside and the inevitable question came.

"So, can I see your pumper?"

He hadn't yet seen it in person over the past six months.

Of course, Chief. Right this way.

Roles reversed, I would have asked the same thing. Any of us would. No one is immune!

Taps

2010-01-29T10:53:00.000-08:00

US Navy Honor Guard preparing for the service.

Portland Battalion 4 and Engine 10 frame the flag-draped casket.

Portland fire personnel form up as the memorial is about to begin.

In a light rain, Grandpa was laid to rest.

Portland Engine 10 traveled over 16 miles, through seven other station districts, to attend. Three chief officers were also in attendance, and one of the ACs present was the son of a retired AC who had previously worked with Grandpa Blue at Engine 10. He said his father was deeply saddened by the loss, and had shared several touching stories about him upon hearing he had passed. He also noted that there were currently only nine personnel (out of 702 sworn), who still work for Portland that had been on when Grandpa retired. I personally thanked each of the Portland guys for coming out, it meant a lot to me.

The US Navy honor guard's 21-gun salute was the point I choked up. I was proud to attend in uniform and salute my grandfather along with the firefighters from Portland.

And now, we get back on the truck, as he'd want us to do.

Readying for the Funeral Detail

2010-01-23T18:41:00.000-08:00

First, a little more about my grandfather, something he never talked to us kids about, that Mom shared with us this week.

Grandpa Blue, prior to his service with Portland Fire, served in the United States Navy and saw action during World War II. In fact, he was among those at the center of the action while serving on the destroyer USS Stormes when she was struck by a kamikaze, severely damaging the vessel and taking the lives of 21 sailors and injuring 15 others. The attack happened on the evening of the very first day that the newly-commissioned Stormes was in theatre for the first time. In a rare moment of talking openly about his experiences, he once told my mom about cutting through steel and bodies, after he had helped put down the fires, while making attempts to secure the ship afterwards. The Stormes was saved, repaired in drydock, patched up adequately to limp home on one shaft, and was eventually fully repaired and returned to duty.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Stormes

==============

I was waiting for Spring, for the weather to warm up, before doing any serious work on Engine 17, but Mom asked me to consider bringing 17 to participate in the funeral detail. There isn't a lot that can be done on such short notice to pretty her up, but the single worst eyesore has been the partially-removed door markings, where the decals left some adhesive behind, and the hand-painted "GRANT COUNTY FIRE DISTRICT" had been crossed out with single lines of electrical tape (cheesy, I know, but it was what was available at the time, and I felt it important to be clear the rig was not representing Grant County when out and about).

I called fellow firefighter and auto body guru Art Bonenfant this morning, asking if he could help me out on very short notice. Sure, he said, but only if you bring it right now. So of course, I did.

The first thing I went to do after showing up at his place was remove the electrical tape. The tape had only been on a couple months, and not exposed to direct sunlight, but I'll be danged if it didn't pull up the paint under it, all the way down to the primer and in some cases exposing bare metal! Ouch!! Interestingly, it revealed no red under the lime-yellow, so when Grant County repainted her, they stripped her down right first. What was supposed to be a simple buff-off job got a lot more complicated, but Art was not perturbed in the slightest. I told him I didn't need perfection, because an entire repaint was in the future, I only hoped to make 17 marginally presentable for Monday's service.

He set me to work with lacquer thinner to remove the adhesive residue from the decals, and pulled out some paints. From 30-40' away, he poured yellow into a paper cup, added a small dollop of green and a touch of white, stirred it, and then carefully regarded 17. He then dipped a stir stick into the green paint and dropped a single drop of green into the cup. Stirred. Regarded. Another drop. A drop of white. He did this for about ten minutes until he was satisfied and put it down.

We set to buffing the lettering off without incident.

After the buffing was completed, I noticed evidence of where additional lettering had been placed by Grant County FD #5 on the bottom of the door, that had read "Moses Lake WA". I hadn't known about that. If you click on the picture below to full size, you can just barely make out some of that lettering. This pic also shows the severity of paint damage from removing the tape.

We then masked off the doors, and Art laid down a heavy coat of his blend on top of the exposed metal/primer, to cover the dark strips. He then sprayed a wider band to blend the coloring, and finally sprayed a third coat over the entire door.

He was done less than two hours after I showed up!

While not a perfect perfect match, as you can see it was extremely close. I am hugely impressed with his ability to eyeball a color and put together a blend on the fly.

So.... got that squared away. Give her a bath and she'll be ready to go on Monday. Art will eventually be getting 17 back, as he'll be the guy giving her back a beautiful red coat one day.

I called Uncle Larry to let him know 17's would be coming along. I hadn't chatted with him at length yet, but to my delight he let me know that there would be a full Navy honor guard including 21 gun salute. Also, Portland Engine 10 and her crew would be in attendance. However, Mom hadn't known that no procession was included in the final arrangements, and as parking is at a premium where the memorial is being held, we agreed it would be best to not bring Engine 17 after all.

Well, good progress was made anyway, and as the restoration continues, I will always remember the part that Grandpa Blue played in kicking me in the rear to get some work done on 17. Readying the pumper to honor him, even if it doesn't happen as I expected, will always represent the beginning of 17's road to restoration.

Rest easy Grandpa, your detail is completed. We've got it from here.

George Blue, Portland Fire Bureau (Ret.)

2010-01-19T11:17:00.000-08:00

My last grandfather passed away yesterday, after suffering a stroke several weeks ago.

His house was one of our favorites to visit as kids. The backyard was full of swingsets, teeter-totters, birdbaths, windmills and other decorations. The shed always had bikes and pedal cars ready to go, and other lawn toys such as frisbees, golf clubs and other fun stuff. Inside was an entire room set aside with bunk beds and toys, we could spend hours in there when visiting. Then of course, there was the mysterious attic and basement filled with treasures and curiosities awaiting discovery by adventurers. And the cats, he loved his cats. They had luxury window boxes, a cat tree to play in, and.... if I recall correctly, they weren't even his cats. They technically belonged to a couple of neighbors across the street... community cats, you might say. Anyway, he put up "Cat Crossing" signs and even painted a "Catwalk" on the pavement between the houses.

That place was just magic.

George Blue served with the Portland Fire Bureau (now Portland Fire & Rescue) for a very long time, spending almost all of his career as chauffeur and engineer of Engine 10. When he started there, Engine 10 was still a 1926 American LaFrance 1,000 GPM pumper. Among other family legends is the time he tore the station bay door apart when it started to come down as 10's was heading out on a call. Hey, eventually we all get dinged by bad luck, right?

Grandpa Blue lived to the age of 88, surviving two previous wives who passed before him. I visited him a little over a week ago, and even weakened by the stroke, he quizzed me on pump pressure settings on different hose sizes, compensating for elevations, and I told him about my Engine 17, which tickled him. He had expressed interest in me taking him for a ride when he got out of the hospital. I knew things were not going that well for him, but his passing still came surprisingly earlier than expected.

Details are still in the air, but I fully expect to be driving Engine 17 in his procession.

Hug your family. Make that phone call you've been putting off. All that.

The Other Fire Truck at my House

2010-01-12T20:09:00.000-08:00

I've alluded to the other rig at my house, but it was pointed out to me that I never really elaborated on it. Since we are in the winter offseason, here's some more filler content disguised as a useful blog post.

I have served on four fire departments as I have moved around the country (five agencies if you count my two years concurrently serving as a wildland firefighter with the State of Minnesota). I've been in the job since 1993, but have been a probie four times. Hopefully never again, as it gets old starting over, and I'm not very good at keeping my mouth shut about "at the other place we ...", and even I hate it when other guys do that.

I joined a mid-sized county fire protection district, upon the return of my family to the Pacific Northwest. It is a primarily volunteer fire department, but there are a handful of career members and several part-timers, who help fill the gaps when volunteers and live-in residents are not available.

Last year, the fire district opened a new "satellite" station, the district's sixth fire station. The new location filled in the last major coverage hole in the district. It's not like we have career guys ready to staff the place, but the district wanted something more than a shed on the corner for a few apparatus to sit in. Besides, the district recently experienced the difficulty of selling old fire stations after a new headquarters was built and another station was overlapped by a city annexation. It's hard to sell an old fire station. In fact, we ended up keeping the overlapped station (for now), as it didn't sell and is now being used for other purposes.

So, instead of just building a 'shed' that required duty crews to go check on the rigs, maintain the building, and mow the grass at least weekly, the district bought an existing home in the right location and intends to put up a two-bay building for the apparatus by the house. In the future, should district/station reconfiguration happen again, selling an existing house with a big garage will be comparatively easy. And as long as there is a house, the district realized that a live-in resident firefighter can do all the rig checks, grounds maintenance, building maintenance, deter vandalism and theft... and when home, run a few calls to boot. Saves the district a bundle on the hourly costs of sending duty crews to do the work when they could be doing other useful things.

I applied for the resident position, and was blessed to be selected. So I live, with my family, in Fire Station 6. I don't pay rent, but I earn my keep by doing all the above mentioned tasks, and running calls when I'm home. It's a lot of work, but it's worth it to me. I still have a full-time job, which is also true for most of the other resident firefighters living in dorm rooms in some of the other stations. When we're around, we help, and if not, the next closest staffed station and nearby volunteers pick up the slack.

The building is not yet completed, so for now I am assigned just an EMS/brush 'rescue squad' kind of mini-pumper vehicle (Squad 6) which fits in the existing space at the station. When the planned building is completed, Squad 6 will tentatively be joined by an engine, though exact plans are still up in the air on exactly what the district will do for Engine 6 as yet.

I had a moment to snap a picture of Squad 6 while out on a traffic accident today. This is my 'take home' vehicle. It's my baby. I absolutely LOVE this little truck, it can do a lot and fill many roles comparative to its small size.

Thus, Engine 17 was actually the second fire apparatus to live at my house.... at Station 6. But to be absolutely clear, Engine 17 is not in service and will never be utilized as a district apparatus. It is not certified for that use, is too old to be accredited by a fire insurance company, is not equipped, and I would almost for sure be asked to pack my belongings if I tried that stunt anyway! Necessarily, I talked with the neighbors (all really great people) so they understand that the old American LaFrance fire engine is not a district rig, not in service, and not coming to their fire, so please don't get angry at the district when it doesn't show up.

So, that's the story.

Thanks for reading.

Some Minor Small Talk

2010-01-05T00:05:00.000-08:00

Winter. Not the time to be doing much with Engine 17. Yet I feel compelled to put something up once in a while so you know this thing is still on.

The reaction to the Facebook fan page pretty much blew me away. Over 80 fans in just a few weeks, and I only know and recognize a small handful of them. To the rest of you, welcome aboard. I hope I can entertain you adequately to make it worth your time, because I don't have any door prizes to offer.

Finally got the last photo installed at the Wikipedia entry for American LaFrance, after securing permission from the owner of the photo. The Century 1000 pumper now included on that page was retired from a North Carolina department and subsequently sold to a collector.... in Germany. Of course, he's a member of the ALF Owners group as well as the European chapter of SPAAMFA. Anyway, where the Century 1000 is placed on that article, Engine 17 sits above it, and some mystery guy (cough) stands in front of a Century 2000 below it.

Still waiting and hoping to get pictures of 17 from her earlier days. Have not heard back yet, but don't want to nag too hard.

My sister recently related some miscellaneous events to me that she experienced in Tacoma with her involvement in the fire buff's club and TFD staff, and running into old acquaintances from years ago (talking about you, Joseph Stiles!). I am chagrined to admit that, over fifteen years after I moved away from Tacoma, there are new kids on the TFD that have heard about my outrageous overzealous goofball stuff from back in the day. Does that make me a legend? If so, it is certainly the wrong kind of legend! That I 'grew up' to join the service, was even an officer for a while before getting tired of the game that goes with it, currently live in an active 'satellite' fire station in my six-station fire district with my family (yes, they give me my own district apparatus to keep at the house.... are they crazy?). Who would have ever thought I would be, well, useful? Or at least not dangerously stupid?

Somehow, with tall credit to the guys in Tacoma who against all odds kept me from getting myself killed... here I am.

Still, owning a fire engine is a bit nuts, I admit. I just know how to hide it, I guess.

Happy New Year to all.

A Little Bit of Anonymous Fame

2009-12-26T09:37:00.000-08:00

I dabble as an editor on Wikipedia sometimes.

Yeah, I know it can't be trusted any farther than it can be thrown, but I enjoy contributing when I can.

I noticed that the Wikipedia entry regarding American LaFrance, while making light of the easily recognizable appearance of these ALFs beginning with the Type 700 on up through the Century 2000, did not actually have any photos of these rigs.

I'm changing that. Engine 17 is now the relatively anonymous model for the Type 900, with no links back to here of any kind. Got examples of the 700 (obtained permission) and Century 2000 (my photo) in there so far as well.

Waiting for permission from a guy at the ALF Owners to use a great picture of his mid-70's Century to fill the last big hole. Also missing a Type 1000, but they are so close to the 900s that I doubt it matters.

See it for yourself.... the pictures are on the right side, after scrolling down:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_LaFrance

So... just who is that guy in the Century 2000 pic, anyway???

Some Tacoma Apparatus from Engine 17's Era

2009-12-19T19:04:00.000-08:00

That is, the 1970 era and forward a bit.

Since I still do not have early pictures of 17, I'll have to paint it for you using other photos. I'll probably go off on a lot of silly tangents. I apologize for that in advance.

This Mack is the sort of piece that was front line when Fire Station #17 was opened in 1955. This is one of a handful of apparatus that the Tacoma Fire Department has quietly held on to. They also kept one of Engine 17's sisters, though I don't know yet which one it was. My Engine 17, the dalmation-painted engine in Florida, and the one Tacoma still has, accounts for three of the eight sisters, leaving five unaccounted for. I suspect that at least one was stripped for parts while still with Tacoma, but I am not sure. Anyway...see, I digress! So... about this Mack, I can't see which unit this is marked as, but I am going to use this era's door markings to go forward. The circle reads TACOMA on top and FIRE DEPT on the bottom, and has the unit number in the middle. I think it might say No. 5 but I am not sure. Not that it matters for this ramble.

Moving forward about fifteen years, here is one of the famous (in my mind) eight 1970 American LaFrance Type 900 sisters, one of which is my Engine 17. Times were different then... note the firefighter standing in the jumpseat well behind the cab, looking over the roof. This sister was marked as Engine 6 when the photo was taken, and shows the door lettering that would be used on all new deliveries at least through 1980. Note also the hand-painted unit number on the nose, and between the windows on the side.

The next two photos are from the 1974 Daffodil parade. When Tacoma obtained the eight sisters, they also took delivery of two Snorkel truck companies and a tiller-drawn aerial (TDA) ladder truck. Actually, two TDAs were ordered, but one of them was damaged when the train it was being shipped on derailed. American LaFrance offered to repair it, but Tacoma opted to wait and get a new one (which was eventually delivered in 1972), while the damaged aerial was repaired and sold to another fire department. Anyway, these two photos show one of each of these types of units in their original livery.

Right around 1983 or 1984, Tacoma decided that the old-style lettering was not visible enough at distances. The solution was to fit each unit with large, reflective company numbers. You saw an example of this a couple of posts ago in the old photo I found of Engine 5 (shown as assigned in later years to Engine 8). What you can't see in this photo is that the side numbers on the cab between the windows were allowed to stay, and the large reflective number was placed on the bottom rear compartment doors on each side. At least the original door paint remained.

The rig below was originally Truck 3. When it got its huge reflective numbers, the hand painted stuff was allowed to stay for the time being. The Snorkel boom on the identical Truck 4 was later damaged and removed, and Truck 4 took the identical rig from Truck 3 when Truck 3 got a new and much shorter rig better suited for north Tacoma in 1980. Oops... another tangent... so anyway, when old Truck 3 got assigned as Truck 4 later, the hand-painted "3" between the cab windows was replaced with a smaller version of the reflective decal concept at the same time that the rear big decal was swapped from a "3" to a "4". The hand painted door lettering was also removed, and replaced with Tacoma's new standard maltese cross door insignia - a design still in use today, over 20 years later. When the fad of huge reflective numbers wore off, Tacoma moved forward again and adopted the concept of interchangeable placards, a system in use all over the country today. This was actually a good change. Now, swapping units was easy when crews had to exchange units when relieving each other after long incidents, and especially when using a reserve rig. It was no trouble at all to slap your company ID on whatever unit you were going to use. So ... anyway, here is Truck 3 during its later time as Truck 4, all hand lettering is gone, the reflective number decals are still there, but made redundant by the new placards.

That's progress. It ain't all bad, I guess, but for the work I hope to get done on Engine 17, I want that original hand-painted look. I will throw crucifixes and garlic at large reflective decals and placards.

Here's your parting shot though: Today's Tacoma Engine 17 in all her glory:

Thanks for reading.

Historical Fire Station 17

2009-12-16T12:20:00.000-08:00

(If you stumbled over here from Facebook, the Engine 17 'become a Fan' Facebook button is over there on the right.)

I am trying to obtain photos of Engine 17 during her service life with Tacoma, at any time of her career as E17, E9 and E10. They exist, but can I get access to them? We'll see how it goes. The request is out there.

In the meantime, I have been scraping together photos loosely related to 'my' Engine 17 to entertain you. Today, some history on Fire Station 17.

Construction of Fire Station #17 began in 1954, just east of the intersection of South 35th Street and Union Avenue. When completed and opened in early 1955, Tacoma established Engine Company #17 for the first time.

Some boring commentary on the operational size of Tacoma Fire since then.....

The 1955 opening of Fire Station #17 expanded the fire department to 18 stations (counting the fireboat station). Station 17 was also intended to house the not-yet-established Truck Company #5, but it never happened and Tacoma still operates to this day with only four ladder companies.

Many other changes have taken place, but the net change over the past 54 years amounts to:

Disbanding of Engine 5 (Engines 3 and 12 were also disbanded for quite a while, but both returned, E3 around 1983 and E12 roughly 1998)
Rescue 1 (technical rescue) evolving over the decades into five Medic units
Establishment of a new fireboat at a new Station 5 and then the relatively recent disbanding of both fireboat crews (one fireboat remains staffed by an engine crew when they are available)
The addition of a handful of other unstaffed specialty units.

Overall, the department lost one fire company, one fireboat company, and one rescue company, while gaining five ambulances, amounting to essentially no change in the department's staffing since 1955.

Take the 1955 staffing levels, and then apply the enormous increase in call volume since then due to the assumption of EMS calls (which usually make up about 80% of a fire department's call volume). Then apply the growth of Tacoma from around 137,000 people to over 203,000 in those 54 years, an increase of over 32%. And then apply the assumption of fire protection for the Cities of Fife and Fircrest (combined 2009 population 14,000 pushing the covered total population to over 217,000), and you have the Tacoma Fire Department handling exponentially more calls, covering a population increase of nearly 40%, and doing so with the same number of personnel and apparatus available in 1955. Wow!

Anyway.... back to the interesting Engine 17 stuff.

This architectural drawing of Fire Station #17 is pretty close to how it came out.

Here are some pictures of Station 17 shortly after it was completed. You can see the reference to the hoped-for but never realized Truck Company #5 over one of the bay doors.

Tacoma's Engine 17 was relocated to Fircrest when Tacoma assumed their fire protection by contract in 1995, thus the station formerly used by the Fircrest Fire Department became the new Tacoma Station 17.

The old Station 17 on 35th Street, having served its intended duty for only a short 40 years, was remodeled into administrative space and is now the home of the fire prevention division. You can see what it looks like today via Google Street View by clicking the link below. The building's footprint has been expanded into the original covered outside area, the hose tower has been removed, and there is a wall with small windows and a door where the large glass truck bay doors used to be. Driving by, you'd never guess what it used to be except for the curb ramp inexplicably leading up to the wall where Engine 17 used to pull out.

Old Fire Station 17 Google Street View

When we come back.... pictures of older Tacoma fire apparatus similar and related to Engine 17.

Engine 17 sold out and is on Facebook

2009-12-15T09:00:00.000-08:00

You hear it everywhere.

"We're on Facebook!"

"Look us up on Facebook."

"Be our fan on Facebook."

Yep, I admit to having followed the crowd. So... yeah, as you can see by the new widget button over on the right there, now you can be a fan of Engine 17 on Facebook, if you are so inclined:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Engine-17/228170656671

But just to keep this post interesting, here is a picture of the lovely Mrs., who drove Engine 17 for the first time this weekend. She's never driven anything larger than a full size van before. She was a natural, took it right out on the open road and navigated with ease.

Back when I picked up Engine 17.... the Mrs. was very forgiving when she heard I wanted to drop a chunk of change to buy an old fire engine ....(well, I greased the skids by buying her the grand piano she'd been asking for). We'll be paying both of these off for a while, but it was worth it.

Engine 8, circa 1984

2009-12-10T19:45:00.000-08:00

Found this today while going through a bin of photographs. This is 17's sister, Engine 8, in front of Fire Station 8, just a few doors down from where I grew up.

The station in that old picture might look familiar, as I snapped a quick photo of 17 in front of the now-closed old Station 8 when I picked her up this summer.

When the 1970 rigs were new, they had hand-painted unit numbers above the 'American LaFrance' nameplate on the nose. It was just before that old picture was taken that the front numbers were buffed off (argh!) and replaced with those huge reflective numbers. It was a fad. A few years later the department switched over to the interchangable placards now commonly used all over the country.

Anyway, it is that beautiful red finish and hand-painted door decals and numbering that I hope to get back on 17. When I compare these pics... sigh. Big job.

The Lakewood 4

2009-12-09T01:06:00.000-08:00

A little bit of closure, on something that will never fully heal, came yesterday as the memorial service for the four fallen Lakewood police officers was held in Tacoma, at the Tacoma Dome.

(If you live a sheltered life and are not aware of the event prompting this service and this blog post, reference http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakewood_police_officer_shooting.)

I really wanted to attend, but my work schedule interfered and I could not arrange coverage. I was very unhappy about that.

Had I been able to attend, Engine 17 would have gone along to participate in the group of fire apparatus in the procession.

You see, Engine 17 is familiar with that area. If you've read the blog all along, you know that 17 was later reassigned to Engine 9 and finally to Engine 10 before leaving Tacoma. Station 10 is Tacoma's southernmost station, just north of Parkland and northeast of Lakewood. 17 spent nine years in south Tacoma as Engine 10, occasionally running into Parkland and Lakewood on mutual aid. In fact, Tacoma Station 10 is less than four miles from the site of the shooting. If not assigned on the first alarm there out of 10's, 17 was close enough to be on the 2nd.

This was 17's last neighborhood in Tacoma, and a casual afternoon bike ride away from where I grew up.

While sorry I missed the memorial, I am praying that there isn't a next time to make up for not being there.

Brothers in blue, thanks for what you do.

Engine 17 Gets Hosed

2009-11-20T07:06:00.000-08:00

So Dad is perusing Craigslist, looking for stuff, because, you know, there's stuff out there.

Lo and behold he stumbles on a listing for old fire hose, and he has contacted the offering party for more information and then lets me in on what he's up to.

It is my intention to outfit Engine 17 with equipment appropriate to the period when she was new, so I ask him a little more about it. I would prefer old style cotton-jacketed hose, or at least I'd like to avoid the new plastic stuff that we use today, but seriously, can I afford to be all that picky right now?

Really, I am not even looking for equipment for the most part unless - like this - it falls into my lap. Paint and mechanicals are more important to me, overall.

As it turns out, it is the Northshore Fire Department that is unburdening itself of old hose no longer fit for duty. It can carry water, sure, but for various reasons is no longer fit for use on the rig when lives are on the line. And what is available? Lots of 5" LDH.

So, Dad picks up 400' of LDH. Does that make his Buick wagon a "Hose wagon" while he's carrying it? Yes, of course it does.

So, while Engine 17 did not carry this stuff in 1970, she most certainly did by the time she was retired from Tacoma front-line duty in 1987. So, OK, I can work with that. And.... there is that word.... FREE.

So, thanks NSFD and BC Jones, for the donation to old Engine 17, which is very appreciated. And I promise if for some goofy reason we actually deploy and charge a supply line at a SPAAMFA muster and one of these things lets go, it won't be your fault. If your name is still on the hose (I haven't seen it in person yet), I will be sure to remove it and protect you!

And now, a new 'want' to go with this stuff: A Storz-compatible steamer intake gate.

There's always something, isn't there?

Some Random Pics and Comments

2009-11-08T19:50:00.000-08:00

Engine 17 is now probably pretty much parked for the season. It's going to be a long dry spell on the blog. Perhaps I can fill it with pictures and comments about not much. I mean, really it provides no special value or progress on the project, but allows you to get a little closer to the rig than otherwise.

So, here she is, parked under cover. So far the precipitation is staying more or less off the left side, but I am watching things to see how that goes. I may install a hanging tarp or something on that side if necessary. Heated and sealed storage would be best of course, but not really an option right now.

I remember looking at this panel as a kid (on Engine 8, but same thing) and just not being able to make sense of it. Water goes in somewhere and out somewhere, and I see the valve controls, but other than that...??? As I look at it now, it is not a mystery any more, although some of the components are of course old school by today's standards. I guess that's what almost 17 years of fire service experience does for you. It is clear there will be hours spent cleaning and tidying this panel up.
Driver's front fender kick plate. I'm not sure if this can be re-chromed or not. The officer's side plate is pretty much pristine, though. Although there are plenty of locations on Engine 17 which suggest rust and age, it is amazing to me how little there really is when you think about the kind of life a fire engine leads and that she is about 40 years old.
More later, I suppose. If there is any part of the engine you'd like to see much more close up, let me know.

Engine 17 Takes in a Service Call

2009-11-02T20:07:00.000-08:00

Another beautiful day, perfect for taking 17 out, time permitting.

However, time was not on my side, lots of projects to do today.

One of the projects: Restarting the dead '99 Suburban Diesel that has been languishing at the back of the driveway for months. We'd like to get its brakes fixed and its 4WD working again before the snows come. Seeing as how we live at the 1000' level at the foothills of some southwestern Washington mountains, snow and slippery inclines are a part of winter life.

Suburban was dead. Really, really dead. Someone in the family below the age of 6 - not naming names - is likely responsible for the dome lights being turned on at some point in the past.

Hooked up the charger, and set to full boost. Fifteen minutes later, could barely get it to turn over. If you've never had to deal with it before, just know that dead Diesels are HARD to start.

Time is short.

Calling Engine 17.

She's got two big battery banks, you know.

Pulled her on over, hooked her up, and ran the throttle control to bring up the RPMs on the faithful Detroit Diesel plant.

It still took about 20 minutes of that to get the 'Burb to start! With a cloud of smoke and protest it came to life. Got the 'Burb down to the shop, hopefully with a good charge on its batteries in the process.

Thanks, 17!

Harleys and Fire Engine Envy

2009-10-24T19:30:00.000-07:00

Winter approacheth, and taking Engine 17 out will necessarily be curtailed somewhat during the lousiest parts, but today was a good day to take her out. One of the worst things for this rig would be for it to sit too much. Gotta take her out and run around sometimes, let the engine warm up and see some fresh air.

Since the weather was so nice, it was a good time to do the weekly check on the 'real' fire truck at my house (Squad 6), so I brought Engine 17 up to the main driveway to idle while I finished the full rig check on 6. Even with 6's diesel engine and 2-cycle pump engine both running, the unmistakable sound of the Detroit was rumbling over it all.... wrap that up and let's go already!

So, with Squad 6 checked out and the typical minor deviations found on such a check summarily corrected, it was time for a country drive with the American LaFrance.

Stopped at the corner store a few miles up the road and left her idling in the corner of the lot.

There, on a bench in front of the shop, were a couple of hardcore Harley riders in full leather and appropriate regalia, graying ponytails nearly to their waists, taking a break next to their shiny big bikes.

"Hey man, what kind of fire truck is that?" one asked.

"American LaFrance, 1970 Type 900," I replied.

And so it started. A bunch of questions and a great conversation. We were several minutes in before it hit them.

"So... wait... so that's not an 'official' fire engine, is it?"

"No sir, that rig is not in service, it is privately-owned."

The look in his eyes was neat, a nice kind of acknowledgment between men who have their big boy toys along with them to share.

I eventually went into the store to get some junk food, and despite their cool customer demeanor, sure enough... they walked over to check her out.

Fire Engine Envy. Even Harley riders aren't immune.

Latest Toy Has Arrived

2009-10-09T09:22:00.000-07:00

Much of the project will be slow going, but as Commander 5000's are so rare, so hard to come by, I couldn't pass up the chance to get it. It arrived yesterday, and it looks nearly new... I am very pleased with this purchase.

Part of me would love to install it right away... but the common sense side of me knows to wait until the paint job is completed, which might mean a significant delay in getting this on Engine 17.

The Beginning - As Told by Sister

2009-09-25T01:00:00.000-07:00

If you were at all amused at the narrative of how I came about obtaining Engine 17, you might want to read the first several posts of my sister's blog, which is a thorough review of her point of view of the same events.

I just finished re-reading it, and was again amused. It is much easier to be nuts when you can freely admit it.

Click here to start.

Whelen Commander 5000 Found!

2009-09-24T18:13:00.000-07:00

That was quick!

Now, to get it home.

I put out a few very long-shot emails along with yesterday's post, and got exactly one hit. The person who wrote back had purchased the unit about a year for purposes I knew not... for resale (already gone) or for his own project (not for sale)... who knew?

But the long shot paid off, and I have agreed to meet his asking price.

Attached are some pictures. More to come of course when it arrives in a few weeks. Installing this light will probably be the first significant task on E17 since removing the markings. Mechanical issues are more important, but this symbolic job will mean a lot.

For sale: One mid-80's vintage two-lamp rotating red warning light. Can be seen on E17 in pictures attached to some previous posts. :)

Looking for a what? Good luck with that!

2009-09-23T01:25:00.000-07:00

The rotating warning light currently on Engine 17 is not original equipment. These rigs were delivered to Tacoma with domed strobe lights. Even though they may have been state-of-the-art in 1970, even as a kid I thought they weren't very effective. One blink per second or so, sometimes a double blink. Not very bright. Useless as a warning device by day, and of marginal value at night. In today's brightly-lit nights, fighting against HID headlights and LED traffic lights, they would be useless.

Usefulness is not important, though. I'm going for a proper restoration, not trying to run calls and bust intersections. It came with a useless strobe, and I want a correct useless strobe again.

What is this useless light? Well, I had no idea. After a modicum of research (going to the ALF owners group with a picture and pitifully saying "help"), I was informed that what I need to obtain is a red-domed Whelen Commander 5000 strobe.

Web searches are not promising. Nothing on eBay at the moment. A few whackers who have discussed this model are on a site called 'elightbars.org', and although I swallowed my pride and signed up to see if anyone would sell me one there, they never approved my registration request. Not whacker enough, I guess.

So.... if you have a line on one of these or know someone who does, you know I would be eternally grateful for the heads up.

Below are two pictures. The dalmation-painted engine is one of Engine 17's seven identical sisters, purchased directly from Tacoma by a sub sandwich shop in Florida. In fact, this rig's Serial Number is the sequence before mine, they apparently 'rolled off the line' back-to-back. It still has its Commander 5000 strobe. The black & white picture was provided by a member of the ALF owners, and the two ALFs on the left are sporting Commander 5000's.

Thanks.

Welcome to the New Visitors

2009-09-10T13:06:00.001-07:00

This blog got an unexpected and pleasant surprise when the Happy Medic briefly shined his spotlight on us here. The visitor stats went through the roof, of course, because his blog has become a hotspot in the Fire/EMS world over the past year.

I don't have anything useful to add as far as updates on Engine 17 go, but wanted to thank you all for coming in and taking a look at this small little drama playing out at my place. Having this old engine is really special, and I am glad to share the story.

Identity Corrected and Confirmed Again, For Real This Time

2009-09-02T14:12:00.000-07:00

Well, I feel silly about this, but.... well, last word I got about my engine's original identity was incorrect. I shouldn't have jumped the gun until it was "confirmed"-confirmed... I was working with an indirect, unofficial notification. My bad.

Turns out, my engine did not start out as Tacoma Engine 2 before becoming Engine 10.

TFD historian Ralph Decker has confirmed that my engine joined Tacoma's fleet as Engine 17 in 1970. When Engine 17 was replaced with an American LaFrance Century Series in 1976, my engine was reassigned as Engine 9. When Engine 9 received one of the 1980 Mack CF pumpers, my engine was then assigned to Engine 10 for the rest of its Tacoma front line career, being moved to reserve status in 1987 and sold in 1989.

Sadly, the building in service as Station 17 in 1970 is no longer a fire station, so I will be unable to get meaningful pictures of my rig in front of that location. The Tacoma Fire Department moved Station 17 to the City of Fircrest in 1995, and remodeled the old station into administrative office space.

So once again the blog name has been updated and is now under a new address. This should be the last time! What else can go wrong?!

More Pictures

2009-08-29T21:21:00.000-07:00

We had a back-to-school party for many of our friends today, had a lot of folks over. I don't need much of an excuse to bring out Engine 2. Lots of fire engine rides today. Here's Engine 2 parked as the teenagers were playing some improv games.

While the camera was out, though, I documented the evidence of The First Krang. Still angry with myself for this..... the pedestal behind the bumper is where the Q2B siren used to be... and will be again eventually.

Here is the first front picture of Engine 2 since I removed the '1312' from the front and sides... though you can see where it was. Oddly enough, while testing equipment to see what still works, I found that the officer's side spotlight is on the same circuit as the 'wag-wag' (high beam flasher). Dude... that is just strange. Only one of the air horns is making noise. Lots of projects await.

The sealed holes on either side of the red light indicate that at some point after leaving Tacoma, Engine 2 had a full-size lightbar installed, and then removed. If I had to guess, I'd say GCFD5 put the bar on, and then removed it when it was sold to GCFD13. But that's just a guess. In any case, those and the other holes should be prettied up a bit when Engine 2 gets red again.

An unpleasant rusty square and a plumbing cap remains where the Stang water cannon used to be mounted. Could be tricky to replace that. I am not sure why so little of the booster hose remains, either. There isn't enough to be useful.... but there is still a dinky nozzle on it.

Officer's side panel... missing caps.

The hose bed's oak tray, used to hold the hose up and allow air circulation, is long gone, but you can see where its base rails used to lay.

Compartment interiors are in great condition for a 40-year-old engine.

Pump panel, more missing caps. Several of the gauges are not original, but it is the main pressure gauge with the white background that is most obvious. There's a few more things missing that aren't obvious from this far away. Projects... lots of them. The oak trays in those crosslays on the upper left are still there, though.

Ah yes.... the original red color is obvious inside the cab.

More later when there is more to talk about.

Original Identity Confirmed

2009-08-24T21:03:00.000-07:00

Unofficial (but reliable) word has reached me that according to the premier and longtime Historian of the Tacoma Fire Department, Ralph Decker, my engine's original home was with Tacoma Station 2, as Engine Co. #2, from the time of its delivery in 1970 until it was replaced in 1980 with a new Mack CF pumper. It then spent the next seven years at Station 10 until it was again replaced with a new pumper, this time a 1987 Thibault. My engine then moved to reserve status for a few years before Tacoma sold it to Grant County Fire District #5.

Ironically, if you have been reading along so far, you'll note that Station 2 was the only other fire station other than Station 10 that we stopped at when passing through Tacoma on the pick-up trip. Well, I guess we did a photo-op drive-by at the old Station 8, but it is now closed and we didn't hover for long... doesn't quite count.

I seem to have apparently had an inkling on this, though.... when I first hedged on the blog name, on just the 2nd post of this blog, I used Engine 2 as an example alternative. Ding ding ding! Where's my prize? Oh wait, I already own it. Yeah!

So.... this is the first new post on the blog after moving it to its new location (formerly this was the "Engine 10 Project").

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I missed the Woodland WA Pump-In arranged by SPAAMFAA this past Saturday, but had a pre-arranged father-and-son camping trip on that weekend with my 9-year-old. The fire engine will need love for a while, but my children only grow up once. Skipping the trip with my kid was therefore never even on the radar. I hope to take Engine 2 to some of these future events when conflicts are not a problem, and sponge up the knowledge that other participants are sure to offer. I need all the help I can get.

Due to Summer winding slowly down, and other financial obligations screaming for attention, it is unlikely that there will be any major amount of regular activity on Engine 2 in the near term. However, of course, when there is, it will be noted here. The only significant thing done in the past 24 hours was the removal of the decals from the cab marking it as GCFD13's Engine "1312" and the removal of the "13" from the doors. The actual lettering, "GRANT COUNTY FIRE DISTRICT" was painted onto the doors by previous owner GCFD5 and will need to be buffed off.

Sorry for the boring update.

Paint, Identity, and Pictures

2009-08-17T08:33:00.000-07:00

Here she is, on the day I picked her up, original red paint visible on the inside of the door. More pictures farther down.....

I was doing some fishing around to get an idea what it will run me to make this rig red again, and am still recovering from the shock.

The general estimate: 10 Gs. $10,000. Five figures. Ouch.

So do I wait, perhaps for many years, and get it done 'right', or do I shortcut it a bit, forgo comprehensive sandblasting and just get a half decent paint job on par for a working vehicle? I don't mind if it looks a little rough along the lines of what working fire apparatus often look like, but I want to avoid 'cheap' and end up with it looking like lipstick on a pig.

One solution I am considering is to approach some paint and body shops nearby and barter work in exchange for advertising. That is, to show their name and number on the rig at parades and musters, for a fixed number of major appearances, in order to offset the cost. Still, at $10G, that is a lot of appearances. If I were a shop owner, I don't know if I would go for that... I am wondering how many shows I would pay $10G to put a fire truck in for advertising. And then, one of the helpful guys at ALFowners pointed out that the collector car insurance carriers as a general rule prohibit commercial use. That would mean that coverage would probably be null and void when advertising is displayed.

Argh.

I am in over my head, but I knew that going in. I doubt that feeling will ever go away. I have existing debt, added more to get this rig, and of course there is the family to take care of. Necessarily, this project is not real super high up the priority list.

Still, I am glad I did not pass this opportunity by.

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I have determined beyond all doubt that my engine was not Engine 10 for its entire life with Tacoma. Engine 10 was not one of the original recipients of the eight sisters. I have narrowed it down, and (assuming I remember correctly) have refined the possibilities to it originally being E1, E2, E6 or E17. We shall see. The blog name will be changing when I find out.

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Finally, pictures:

This is Tacoma's Truck Co. #3, from the same batch of American LaFrance Type 900's that my engine came from, which represents both the color and markings that I hope to eventually put back on my engine. (Photo from Ralph Decker collection per http://www.aerochief.com/page7.html)

A picture I took right after installing the new Collector Vehicle license plate, which also clearly shows the '10' peeking through a thin coat of silver paint on the center rear compartment door:

From the trip home: In front of Tacoma Station #10 (it's last full-time gig with Tacoma), and then also in front of former Tacoma Station #8 (next to where I grew up).

I just love those guys...

2009-08-09T08:47:00.000-07:00

The ALF Owners board is just awesome.

I was feeling OK about the insurance quote mentioned in the previous post, but thought it prudent to run it by the ALF Owners to see what they get.

Hah... I was relatively happy with the ~$32 month quote until I discovered that they generally pay less than $100 per year. And have better coverage. This thanks to companies that specialize in insuring collector vehicles instead of using a normal auto insurance firm to bring a fire engine into the fold.

So, good news.... I just saved a bundle on my fire engine insurance.

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On an unrelated note, I just lost my 96 year old grandmother yesterday, sadly while I was out of town and too far away to return in time. Please call your parents/grandparents/children/granchildren today and tell them again how much you love them, and make sure your priorities are straight. I'm feeling kind of low, so apologies for the short post today.

Getting Legal

2009-08-07T08:35:00.000-07:00

Unsurprisingly, I do not have a great deal of experience in owning a fire engine. Like, obviously, none.

Thank the powers on high that there are others who have traveled this path before.

Wouldn't you know it, there is an entire community of American LaFrance apparatus owners. Not just a group of fire truck owners in general (that group also exists), but a specific group just for American LaFrances, populated with guys who have seen, fixed, answered and done it all, and are willing to help others. Can you hear that angel song in the background? They've already helped me start to solve a minor air leak and track some other parts down.

I went to the DMV with the title to square things away. The clerk had never seen a fire engine title before. Now, these clerks have pretty much seen it all, dealt with the dumbest people and handled the craziest of requests, so her reaction to titling a fire engine title was telling - clearly this doesn't happen very often. She was fun and pleasant. We both wondered about why the title has a bunch of zeroes down under the Weight Rating field, but it let her update the records without fixing that (as if either of us knew what to put there anyway). This mattered because of the next topic....

Title: DONE

So the State of Washington has a very easy-to-understand flowchart on their web site about when a CDL is required. A 1970 American LaFrance passes all of these questions without needing a CDL, except the weight rating question which went unanswered at the time of titling. It remains unclear what the weight rating is. I haven't yet found a nameplate on the truck with this info, and am wondering if it got removed at some point. So, the question got posed at the ALF Owners forum. It still isn't crystal clear, but it seems that while it is very likely that a CDL is technically required to drive it, that most law enforcement types won't bother about it as long as there are no other glaring issues, especially once it is determined that I have been exempted from CDL status through fire department requirements that provide equivalent training for a long time, hence I am competent and allegedly know what I am doing.

I failed to mention on the Krang post, by the way, that in my 16 years on da job that I have (knock on wood) never kranged a rig - nary a scratch. I put one in a snowy ditch once (Minnesota, give me a break), but no damage done. I waited until I bought my own, and then did it in the first week. Nice.

License to Drive: DONE (kind of)

So I called my insurance agent, a nice lady, and kind of played her. Hi, this is Frank, and I need to add a vehicle to my insurance. Sure Frank, can I have the VIN number? Yes, its serial number is 1412045.

If you don't know VIN numbers, let's just say that what I provided was several characters short of a standard VIN.

It was quiet for a moment and then she said she missed some of it and could I repeat it. I spilled the beans and said it was a fire engine, and that was its full serial number, which stands in for a VIN on the title in these cases.

What ensued was a fun conversation. She didn't even know where to begin, but eventually decided that it would fall under the same umbrella as collector vehicles, and required a call to some of their underwriters to find someone willing to do a policy. Long story short, we got it squared away within a few hours, full coverage (liability-only for some reason not offered on collector vehicles) for about $32 a month. Not too bad.

Insurance: DONE

Yesterday, the Collector Vehicle license plate arrived in the mail and was promptly installed.

This is clearly going to be an ongoing interesting ride. I wonder what it might be like, years down the road, when I am helping another lost newbie with a new toy fire engine figure all this out, and realize that although to the new kid I look like I know what I am doing and that guys like me induce angel song for him in the background, internally I will continue to be aware that I am as clueless as ever. It is all about perspective, I guess.

The First Krang

2009-08-02T19:02:00.000-07:00

It sure didn't take long.

The Saturday night that I brought Engine 10 to the area of its new home, I actually left it at the main fire station of the district I now work for, because the annual open house was the next day. Having an old rig or two for people to poke and prod during the day works well. I was assigned a different detail on the open house day, so left instructions on starting and operating the engine in case it had to be moved.

They moved it while setting things up early the next morning. No problem.

When I finally got back to pick it up on Monday night, it was parked adjacent to the truck bays, on the outside pull-around loop. I approached from the rear, walked up the officer's side to the front, and then started my walk-around, around the back tailboard and up the driver's side, with nothing open or sitting loose. It was tight by the building, and I had to take care to not bang the door into the building. Started her up, checked the wheel alignment as straight ahead, and goosed the throttle to pull away.

*krang!* Engine 10 lurches to the right.

Oh expletive, what the expletive was that??? That was right outside my door window, front left corner. I poke my head out and look down.

She had been nosed up so close to the building that the steel/concrete bollard that guards the building's corner was slightly in front of the front left corner of the bumper, and completely invisible from the cab. My walkaround from the officer's door around the back to the driver's door missed it. Argh!!

When I pulled forward into the bollard, the awesomeness that is the huge front bumper was not impressed, and nudged the entire pumper to the right while peeling paint from the bollard. However, when the bumper cleared the bollard, Engine 10 settled slightly back to the left and kranged the diamond plate side step under the driver's door into the bollard. There was no damage at all to the bumper. However, the amber clearance light was neatly peeled off the step, which itself had been pushed in a couple inches and buckled slightly upwards.

More bad language followed. Sorry.

Cranked the wheel to the left and backed slowly up to pull sideways away from the bollard, then pulled away to survey further and pick up pieces of clearance light.

I was very unhappy. I am Engine 10's new caretaker, and I let her down awfully early.

It actually won't be that big of a deal to repair, although the original equipment clearance light might be tricky to find (cast iron housing). Mainly I am very lucky that the bumper survived with nothing more than bollard paint on it, and that the bollard did not get to the fender and cause further harm.

A close call, and I knew better... walkarounds are 360, not 320. All the way around.

That was the first krang. Hopefully the last.

Pickup Day - Part II

2009-08-02T00:32:00.000-07:00

Sister is realllly wanting in the engine with me, so first things first. Go to her south end house so she can drop the burden of having her own vehicle along, and we have a few places we want to go. We pull up, neighbors giving us undisguised and puzzled stares, and I give a couple of blasts on the out-of-tune Grover 1510's (they have lost their 'firetruck' stuttertone sound and bring to mind instead a UPS truck... another project).

The brother in law was just heading out the door to pick up the nephew in the north end. Sister parks the Explorer and in a flash she has an evil plan.

Soon she and I are on our way to pick up her kid and his girlfriend from an afternoon party. In the engine, of course. All the way across town to another neighborhood, more stares, more honks, more fun. It was unclear if nephew would be mortified or thrilled. He claimed the latter, and he and his girlfriend took the jumpseats before we pulled away with more weak UPS truck honks.

First stop: Tacoma Fire Station 2, where rumor has it one of the other 1970 ALF sisters is in storage in the basement (Station 2's basement has a rear ground-level entry and used to be the Fire Garage a long, long time ago). TFD has a handful of old apparatus quietly retained for eventual museum purposes, it is hoped, and in future years it will be realized just how valuable and cool this is. As luck would have it, a Battalion Chief was just returning from another errand and met us at the back. Alas, the sister is not here, but in another facility not easily accessed without prior arrangements. Amusingly, this BC also vaguely remembers me as the whacker kid fire buff from 8's of many years ago. I think he is pleased to see that I turned out sane and allegedly a productive member of the service. But wait, I just drove up in a privately-owned fire engine.... OK never mind the appearance of sanity. I think he was just being polite.

Next stop: Old Tacoma Fire Station 8. It is a private residence now, so we don't want to intrude. I park the engine in the street in front of the apron, jump out and grab a couple of pictures, and we're out of there. We amuse ourselves ever so slightly by running the engine back down 43rd Street towards 'M' Street as we recall Engine 8 doing endless times from our childhoods.

The nephew and girlfriend have had about enough now (it is a super-hot day even without sitting next to the hot cowl over the raging Detroit Diesel), so we drop them off at home. Still, they were all grins waving back at people giving them the usual puzzled stares and happy waves from the children.

Next stop: Tacoma Fire Station 10, this engine's apparent last full-time house when assigned in Tacoma. Luckily, the current iteration of Tacoma Engine 10 is in the house. 10's is one of the busiest companies in Tacoma now (~3,000 runs per year), so this is a stroke of good luck. We park across the street at first to stay out of the way, and knock on the door. Listening to just the duty crew, it was something like "Can we help you? You have a what? Really? Oh, it's here??" So we have FF Brent and FF Karen humoring us and our surprise drop-in, but you know it is cool for them to get a first-hand contact with the past of their house, something they are too young to have ridden when it was still with Tacoma. The LT didn't come out. Maybe he knew who I was, heh. Anyway, soon they insist that we back the engine right onto the apron for pictures. FF Karen even presented me with a parting gift when it was time for us to move on and let them get back to their day, which was extremely nice of her, and above and beyond... as for me it was gift enough to see old Engine 10 in front of her old house.

I'd post pictures - I have them - but the Blogspot posting interface doesn't work 100% on the computer I am using at the moment, but pictures will be forthcoming at some point.

Next stop: Mom's house. Living by old Station 8 was a significant part of her life, too, though she moved away from there several years before old Station 8 closed. Sister and I stop and switch places before we pull up, and Mom's husband is shocked to see sister behind the wheel as we pull up... "Wait.... you're driving??" This tickles him and Mom to no end. It is a short visit because time is tight. Mom really and truly thought I was nuts to buy this engine and made sure to tell me as much in advance, but I arrange for silence before starting up the big engine again, and she cannot contain her emotional reaction. She clenches a fist in victory, looks up and says "Yessssss!" You see, she's not nuts, but if it invoked this response in her anyway, then you get what it does for my sister and I. Well, just say you do and we'll move on anyway.

The last two appearances of the day were at house parties. One was a party that sister was involved in, and all of the grownups came out and walked around and climbed on and poked in and opened every door and compartment on that engine. Like young kids always wanted to do, but I gave them the green light to explore to their hearts content, and they all dropped 20 years for the next fifteen minutes.

Finally to a housewarming party that I had been invited to that day, and I parked the engine right on the front lawn. I'll tell ya... that sure brought out the neighbors for a meet and greet at the housewarming! There were lots of actual children this time, and again they got the green light to have fun. If I ever get this engine a new paint job, access will be restricted, but right now it is a 'working' piece, and a few more scuffs are of no importance. We stayed close to keep them from falling off or getting hurt, but I am here to tell you those kids had a blast. Literally. Lots of them. Lots and lots. So much so, in fact, that I swear they would have emptied the air tanks completely out with all that air horn blasting action except that I was sure we were heading towards a disturbing the peace complaint and finally put the kabosh on air horn usage.

It was a long and lonely dark drive home after that.

It was about as grand of a pickup day as one could hope for.

I don't know when this engine will get back to her hometown again, but the one grand day in town was sort of epic considering how long she had waited for it. And sometimes home isn't about place as much as it is about being cared for. I have a wife and six children who are my first priority, and other obligations that come after, but I intend to provide old Engine 10 a good place.

Welcome home, baby.

Pickup Day - Part I

2009-08-01T01:41:00.000-07:00

I rode up from the Portland area to Tacoma by train, and crashed out at the in-laws (they're the best.. it just kicks all to have great in-laws). Bright and early Saturday morning, my sister picks me up, and northward we go, through Seattle up to Mukilteo to catch the ferry to Whidbey Island, where my pumper awaits. It is a great drive up, filled with anticipation for both of us. My sister is every bit as nuts about this as I am.

We arrive at our destination, and I see the rig parked at the end of the field. Wow, I am actually buying a fire engine. I am nuts... yeah yeah, we've been over that. Sister feels the same way... wow, he's really buying a fire engine.... he's nuts... we both are.

The gentleman selling her walks us around the rig. I've been holding a slight hope that it was my 'home' rig, Engine 8, but we quickly spot the '10' on the back. That's cool, it is still one of the eight sisters, and 10 is a busy house adjacent to 8's first-due that shares nearly all its fires with 8, as 8 often did with 10. She was missing her Q siren and all of her original warning lights, only a slightly modernized roof warning beacon remained. She was missing several of her intake and discharge caps as well as her Stang water cannon. A couple of rolls of hose were all she had for equipment, hosebed and ladder rack bare bones empty. But that can all be fixed later.... this is one of the eight sisters.

Then, he started her up.

Oh.... that SOUND! I remember it well, and a lot of memories came right back. Hearing that old familiar Detroit Diesel roar to life was.... well... amazing. Inside I am all... 'Yessss!'

We took her out for a quick test drive, and she ran beautifully.

I drove two other American LaFrance engines often on the job before this day. One was a 1984 refurbed 'Type 1000 Century Series', and the other a 1990 'Century 2000'... and while I loved them for being ALF rigs, they did not have the same sound as old Engine 10 and her sisters. What was markedly different this time, was that the sound was a constant for us in the cab as we drove, not a coming or going. Interesting.

We returned, exchanged funds and paperwork, and headed out.

First stop, the hardware store. She still bore the markings of the last agency she worked for, Grant County Fire District #13. We purchased some white contact paper and cut it to size to cover the door markings, the unit ID markings under the jumpseat windows, and the unit ID marking on the nose. On the doors and nose we use a permanent marker to clearly mark this engine as NOT IN SERVICE, and also to cover the warning light on the roof and the now-invalid Washington State "Aid Car License" on the windshield.

You see, I had no interest whatsoever in being waved down by someone in distress. I anticipated having no equipment, and although it turned out to have a little bit of hose aboard, a pneumatic actuator was not functioning and she would not go into pump gear, nor was a nozzle to be had. I admit I did bring my turnout gear and a very nice first-aid/trauma jump kit, but I hoped to not need it. I deliberately avoided wearing anything that would made me look even remotely like a firefighter on or off duty.

It started quickly... I think we talked to five people in the parking lot of this small hardware store on Whidbey island who stopped to look at her, realizing it was a privately-owned toy. Mostly older guys. Yeah, they had boats and stuff... but you could tell they suddenly (if only temporarily) had Fire Engine Envy. This continued all day.

Driving her onto the ferry was a treat. Sister had the roughest time... she wanted to be in the fire engine, not following. Darn all the luck, I swear she would have sold that Ford Explorer to the first person that offered $100 just so she could ride back in the engine, but no one came forward in time.

The ride back to Tacoma was uneventful, except for the part where I spoke inside the cab while approaching the Tacoma Dome on I-5 as if old Engine 10 could hear me.

"Welcome home, baby. Welcome home".

Nuts? Yeah, I am. But I accepted that many years ago.

Hedging on the Blog name...

2009-07-31T19:28:00.000-07:00

How do I know it was Engine 10?

Well, the black and yellow "10" on the center rear compartment, still visible under a thin coat of silver paint, is a pretty good clue, I think. Neither of the districts that had this rig after Tacoma use a numbering system that includes any apparatus identified with a simple "10".

But was it Engine 10 during its entire run with Tacoma? Now that I boldly started the blog with this name, I am not so sure.

By the time I immersed myself in being a goofball underage fire buff in Tacoma, it was after 1980. At that time, the eight 1970 American LaFrance pumpers were assigned to E3, E4 (at that time referred to as 'Support 4'), E7, E8, E10, E14, E15 and E16.

There were six newer pumpers in the fleet by 1980. The two '76 Telesqrt ALFs referred to in the first post (E6 and E17), and four '80 Mack CF pumpers (E1 and E2 as normal pumpers, and E9 and E11 with Telesqrts).

If you take away those six newer pumpers, it almost certainly changes how those eight ALFs were assigned when they arrived in 1970, making up to six of them possible hand-me-downs from elsewhere. So who (if anyone) got the hand-me-downs? That is before my time, so to speak.

I've been waiting to hear back from the Tacoma Fire Garage on this. They've been very helpful to the extent that they can, answering questions about a rig out of their inventory for almost 20 years. The data is somewhere, and it will be found.

If I ever am successful in the restoration of this engine, I intend to use 1970-vintage livery and identify it according to its very first TFD assignment, and I acknowledge it might not always have been Engine 10.

Now really, do you really care about this? Probably not. This is just an early end run to explain myself in advance if the blog name suddenly changes to The Engine 2 Project, etc.

Thanks for humoring me.

The Beginning

2009-07-30T10:19:00.000-07:00

I grew up in Tacoma, Washington, just a few doors down from Fire Station 8 at South 43rd and "L" Streets. Although my sister had the 'bug' first, by the time I was out of elementary school, I knew that I wanted to be a firefighter when I grew up.

I started hanging around Station 8 all the time. I mean, ALL the time. I was an over-the-top Fire Buff... someone who just loves being around firefighters and firefighting. Without going into too much detail (because this blog isn't really supposed to be about me), let's just say that it is a miracle that I didn't get myself killed, the way I chased after calls in South Tacoma on my bicycle and often got a bit too close to the action.

I owe much to the patience of the firefighters of that time who kept me alive despite myself. Mel Smith, Milt Nelson, Joe Stiles, Brian Trunk, Kenny Faulkner, Mike Newhouse, Davey Jones, Don Hoffman, Jeff Hokensen, Ben Baltazar, Cornelius Winesberry, Lonnie Hampton ... these are a few of the names that come right to mind, but there were many others. Some patient, others not so much - but understandably so. Yeah you guys, I was pretty much hopeless, all enthusiasm and no common sense, but you all kicked me in the teeth and busted my balls enough that I eventually became useful as a firefighter later on.

ANYway.....

Back in the day, Engine 8 was a 1970 American LaFrance 'Type 900' pumper, and being the first engine I became very familiar with, it is established in my mind as the embodiment of the romanticised ideal fire engine. Tacoma had eight of these engines, as well as three ALF truck companies (two 80' (?) Snorkels and a tiller-driven aerial), from 1970. Tacoma already had some 1964 Type 900's before this, and also eventually ran another ALF TDA (1972) and a couple of ALF Century Series pumpers with 50' Telesqrt booms (1976) before moving to other manufacturers in subsequent years.

Fast forward.

I have been a firefighter since 1993. There is a small set of firefighters and other fire buffs who own old fire apparatus, not unlike all of the many car collectors out there. It's just that fire engines require a bigger storage space. I had long wanted to pick up an old pumper, but had no specific schedule to do so.

A month or so ago, an old engine showed up on a used car lot near me. I stopped in to see it, a 1966 Mack Model 'C'. It was nice enough, had issues to be expected on a 45 year old truck, but nothing show-stopping. I was hemming and hawing about it. Money I could arrange. Storage I had already. But was this 'the one'?

While discussing it with my sister, she asked about the old '70 ALF Engine 8, which had been replaced in 1987 with a lime-yellow Spartan/Thibault pumper that lacked character (and a Q2B siren). She didn't remember what year it was, or quite how it looked.

When crafting my reply, I did a web search to find pictures of a 1970 ALF pumper for reference.

The 3rd result: A CraigsList ad posted only the day prior, offering one of Tacoma's eight 1970 American LaFrance pumpers for sale.

No. Way.

It would have been grand to get my hands on any late 60's or early 70's ALF, that would have been close enough. Really cool to get a '70 ALF, the 'right' year. But one of the eight 1970 Tacoma ALFs? Are you kidding? I have heard so many times from people who talked about rare or once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to buy the fill-in-the-blank, didn't jump on it, and forever regretted it. The implausibility of how this played out only encouraged my feeling that it was 'meant to be'. So, I followed the advice given, contacted the seller immediately, and picked it up a few days later.

As it turned out, this pumper was Tacoma Engine 10 in its last full-time assignment with Tacoma, from the district located just to the south of Engine 8's district. When Tacoma eventually sold it from their reserve fleet, it was picked up by Grant County Fire District #5, who owned it for the next thirteen years. Grant 5 painted it white over lime yellow (travesty!!), and it was serving as Grant 5's Engine 561 upon its second retirement. Old Engine 10 found its third career with Grant County Fire District #13, where it was serving as Engine 1312 when retired for the final time three years ago.

At least two private owners later, I now own her.

And that's the story of how this all got started.