When you think of Jeep, rugged SUVs no doubt come to mind. But what about fire trucks? Willys started making fire trucks not long after the original model helped win World War II. At least two of them are still on the road right here in northwest Ohio.
A Jeep fire truck was in service at the Richfield Township Fire Department for sixty years. It started out as a piece of equipment that was used to help battle structure fires. In its later years of service, it was used to fight brush and field fires.
Captain Ed Fitzgerald says the department bought the Jeep in 1947 for $1,100, along with a 500-gallon water trailer to pull behind it for another $400, "A couple years ago, a historian who is interested in Jeep fire trucks took a look at it. He got under it and looked for serial numbers and he thinks it was one of the very first ones to roll off the production lines."
It continues to roll today. The Jeep still starts right up, "Very little maintenance has to be done on it to keep it running. We have a couple guys with the department who are good mechanics. All they had to do recently was put some spark plugs in and make sure the carburetor was adjusted."
The Jeep has only been out of official service since 2007. Fitzpatrick says in its later years it would get some curious looks, "A two-man crew would show up in the Jeep and people would look at it like what are you going to do with that . They were all always amazed at how well it performed and still does."
Nearly 70 years after it first arrived, it is still an important part of the department, "What do you use it for now? Parades and a couple of the guys take it out and drive it around the township, just to keep a piece of history alive."