The efforts to restore the fire engine, which Anacortes Fire Department had in service from 1924 to sometime in the ’50’s, have taken 12 years, so far, and cost less than the $25,000 that Mayor Dean Maxwell pledged.
But, with any luck, the restoration effort will come to a climax with the unveiling of the restored fire engine at next year’s Fourth of July parade.
One of the reasons restoration has taken so long is changes in the volunteer crew. Most or all of those who began the restoration have now left the work behind and have been replaced by a dedicated team of seven.
A bit of history now. The fire truck made its debut at the 1924 Fire Equipment Expo in San Francisco. It was a show model with much more decoration and trim that the standard production trucks of that era. There was more gold leaf trim, more nickel-plated parts and featured the latest equipment of the time.
Here one of the restorers, Loren Knutsen, holds a spotlight which has been restored and which will be on the fire engine.
A delegation from the Anacortes Fire Department that was at the expo looking for a new fire truck saw the showpiece and bought it. Who knew it would still be around all these years later.
Fire crews here drove the truck only 3,204 miles during the years it was in service. It was used mainly as a pumper, drawing water out of lakes, the bay and even swamps and ditches to fight blazes on the island.
After being taken out of service in the early ’50’s, it was on display in the fire house on 12th St., which has since been replaced by the one on 13th. Since then, the fire truck was moved to the abandoned fire hall at Dewey Beach, then moved to its current work location, the South Side Fire station, located behind a car dealer on Highway 20.
The volunteers have taken the truck apart, smoothed out chinks in dozens of parts and are about to start putting the engine back together. Much of the work now involves plating many of the exterior parts. That’s being done by a company in eastern Washington and is where much of the city’s money is being spent.
Watch for the new old fire truck at next year’s Fourth of July parade.