When Jack Hopkinson was a kid, he would hear Provo's first motorized fire engine driving by his house as it responded to incidents. He said the truck made a ring-a-ding-ding sound as it went tearing by. Over the years, he developed a friendship with three firemen in his neighborhood and a special interest in the fire engine.
That truck, a 1917 American LaFrance, is celebrating its 100th birthday this year. It's a milestone that might have gone unnoticed as the truck sat in a barn in Sun Valley, Idaho, if it weren't for Hopkinson, who found it there in the 1980s and worked to restore it.
These days the truck continues to "delight the hearts of children of all ages," as Hopkinson likes to say, when it makes its way through the Freedom Festival's Grand Parade and when it's on display for Pioneer Day at North Park.
But when Hopkinson found Old No. 1, the once-shiny red truck was in rough shape.