Jun. 13—Eighty-eight years after the Chehalis Fire Department purchased it and 48 years after it was retired from service, Chehalis Fire Engine 2 is back on the road.

“It’s a big part of our history,” retired Chehalis firefighter Jerry Boes said of the engine.

Purchased new by the Chehalis Fire Department in 1937, the American LaFrance Fire Engine, aptly named Engine 2, was the second motorized engine in the Chehalis Fire Department’s history.

The engine was still in service as the Chehalis Fire Department’s third-out engine when Boes joined the department in 1976.

A year later, in 1977, the department received a 1976 American LaFrance class A engine and officially retired the 1937 American LaFrance from service.

It was surplused due to a lack of storage space and ended up as a static display at the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds, Boes recalled.

While the fairgrounds staff was supposed to maintain the engine while it was on display, it sustained significant damage and fell into disrepair, with Chehalis Firefighters Union Local 2510 IAFF formally requesting ownership of the engine in 1980.

The Lewis County Board of Commissioners at the time agreed to transfer ownership of the engine to the firefighters union, and the engine was returned to the Park Street Fire Station in Chehalis.

Engine 2 briefly returned to service in the aftermath of the Mount St. Helens eruption in 1980, Boes recalled.

“They actually took it out of the firehouse and started using it to pump, to wash off all of the ash,” Boes said. “And somehow, I don’t know how it happened, who did it, whatever, but one of the fenders got bashed in on it, and my understanding was that they didn’t really know how to operate the pump and stuff. And so, the firemen realized that we really needed to try and rescue this truck.”

When longtime Chehalis Fire Department Captain George Benton died in December 2012 at the age of 94, his estate agreed to help with the restoration of Engine 2.

Former Chehalis police officer Rick Silva and a crew of Chehalis firefighters began working to restore the engine in 2014.

Silva was in the process of reassembling the engine when he died unexpectedly on June 18, 2015, due to complications during a surgery to correct a hip injury sustained during a struggle with a shoplifter who was resisting arrest in February 2015, according to previous Chronicle reporting.

After Silva’s death, the dismantled Engine 2 was returned to the Park Street Fire Station in Chehalis, where it sat untouched for about 10 years, until Chehalis Firefighter Adam Miller briefly moved it out into the street while cleaning out the old station.

“The building is just, you know, kind of falling apart, and (the engine) had some pieces and some sheetrock kind of stuck all over it, and I was like, ‘Hey, we just need to get it out and just kind of pick it up a little bit,” Miller said.

Ray MacDonald, of Olympia Firehouse 5, a nonprofit organization of retired firefighters that work to preserve and restore historic fire equipment, happened to be driving by while Miller was cleaning up Engine 2in the roadw

The Flint (MI) Fire Department has reached a major milestone in its emergency medical services (EMS) operations, collecting over $900,000 in ambulance service revenue since launching in October 2024, the department said in a press release recently.

The department is now projected to exceed $1 million by January 2026—nearly triple the initial conservative estimate of $350,000 outlined in its original business plan.

“This milestone demonstrates our commitment to delivering quality emergency care to Flint residents while also generating sustainable revenue for the city,” said Chief T. Wiggins. “I want to personally thank Mayor Sheldon Neeley and the administration team for entrusting us with this vital responsibility. Their support has allowed the fire department to enhance service delivery and better meet the needs of our community.”

This achievement underscores the success of the city’s efforts to enhance public safety and strengthen emergency response services while creating long-term fiscal benefits for Flint residents.

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Accompanied by a brave soul enduring near 90-degree heat in a Smokey the Bear outfit on Tuesday, a small flotilla of public officials and firefighters ceremonially broke ground on a new statewide firefighting helicopter base at the Natrona County International Airport.

Several dozen people withstood the beating sun for the ceremony, including Gov. Mark Gordon, who was the second of six speakers at the ceremony.

Helibase groundbreaking

Gov. Mark Gordon speaks at the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Wyoming State Forestry Division’s helibase at the Natrona County International Airport.

In his brief speech, Gordon praised the work of firefighters through the 2024 season and their efforts to prevent deaths

The state’s current headquarters for firefighting helicopters is just southeast of Glenrock, at a facility that was built in 2004, according to the state forestry division’s website.

Gordon described the existing facility as “wonderful” but emphasized the need to move to a more central location to better serve the state.

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Helibase groundbreaking

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon, center, visits with people attending the groundbreaking for the new Wyoming State Forestry Division’s helibase at the Natrona County International Airport.

Though the distance from Glenrock to Casper in the grand scheme of Wyoming geography seems relatively small, building the new facility here instead of updating the old one made sense for several reasons, said Chris Fallbeck, an assistant fire management officer with the forestry division.

“[Glenrock is] a beautiful location, but we’re operating off of old housing,” Fallbeck said. “Now, we’re putting more money into it than we’re actually getting out, so we were at a point where we needed to do something holistically, working with the legislature and the Building Commission to propose a new base that would suit what our growing program needs.”

On top of the costs of retrofitting the aging Glenrock base, Fallbeck said the Casper airport has access to facilities that make supporting a seasonal helitack crew easier, like fuel at the airport, more housing and communications specialists.

Should the base remain in Glenrock, fuel would have to be trucked in, he said. Since there’s existing infrastructure for fueling aircraft at the airport, it’s easier logistically.

On top of that, the airport offers a hangar. Currently, the state contracts with a provider in Salt Lake City to care for its helicopters.

Ultimately, the move will “revolutionize wildland fire response in the state,” Fallbeck said in his own speech.

Caspar Building Systems will oversee construction of the new base, which Fallbeck said aims to be fully operational for the 2027 fire season and “substantially complete” by August 2026.

© 2025 Casper Star Tribune, Wyo.. Visit www.trib.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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Hickory Daily Record, N.C.
(TNS)

SPENCER — The annual Fire Truck Festival returns to the N.C. Transportation Museum in Spencer on Saturday. This family favorite gathering of fire trucks and fire departments from around the region is the largest single-day event of the year at the N.C. Transportation Museum. Visitors to the museum in historic Spencer, can enjoy the Fire Truck Festival from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

The museum, located at what was once Southern Railway’s Spencer Shops facility for maintaining steam locomotives, has a strong connection with firefighting. The Spencer Shops Fire Department was founded in the 1920s to combat any potential fires at the Southern Railway’s shops. The department consisted of three-reel teams of 11 men each, operating 2,000 feet of two-and-a-half-inch fire hose. With many of the Southern Railway employees living in the adjacent towns, the Spencer Shops Fire Department’s firefighters also responded to the calls of the nearby community, lending a hand to the local fire departments that relied on volunteers and might not be available to fight fires at all hours of the day.

A large variety of antique and modern-day fire trucks will be on display for photo opportunities. Firefighters will be available to visit with families throughout the day.

“This is one of our favorite events, largely because the fire departments are so welcoming and willing to talk with families about the important jobs they do,” said Kelly Alexander, executive director of the N.C. Transportation Museum.

The Fire Truck Festival is sponsored by N.C. Soybean Producers Association, Atlantic Emergency Solutions, ServePro, and compleatKiDZ. “An event like this would not be possible without the generous support of our sponsors and partners,” Alexander added.

Joining the fun will be the N.C. Forestry Service, and the Charlotte Fire Department Safety Education Team. Other activities throughout the day will include discovery maps for kids, inflatable games, jaws of life demonstrations, fire safety house, water spraying, a kids firefighter costume contest, operating model train displays, and more.

Train rides will be going on throughout the day at 10 a.m., 11 a.m., noon, 1 p.m., 2 p.m., and 3 p.m. and can be combined with festival admission for $19 for adults, $17 for seniors/military, $15 for children 3-12 years of age, and free for members and children under age 3. Festival admission without the train ride is half the cost of combination tickets. Access to regular museum exhibits is also included with every ticket. N.C. sales tax and ticketing fees are additional. Advanced purchase is highly recommended.

The festivities will conclude with the popular fire truck parade starting at 3:30 p.m., featuring Charlotte Motor Speedway’s mascot Lugnut.

For more information about the festival, a complete schedule of events and activities, and to purchase tickets, go www.nctransportationmuseum.org/fire-truck-festival or call the N.C. Transportation Museum at 704-636-2889.

The N.C. Transportation Museum is part of the Division of State Historic Sites within the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

© 2025 Hickory Daily Record, N.C.. Visit www.hickoryrecord.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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