Engine 3 is in service with the Burlington (CT) Volunteer Fire Department.

A replacement engine was found for Luverne, a 1932 fire truck, for the Vulcan Victory Torchlight Parade.

Luverne needed a lot more work after 84 years of service. So last year, the Vulcans scratched together some cash and rolled Luverne into the shop.

David Breen headed the committee that raised the funds and organized the overhaul. He said they collected about $18,000 on Give to the Max Day last year plus an additional $6,000 from people connected to the Winter Carnival and other festivals.

It wasn’t quite the $30,000 they hoped to raise, but it was enough to pay for a fresh coat of paint and, more importantly, some serious structural and safety work. It had been almost 25 years since Luverne had that much work done.

“Ninety percent of it was based on the safety of the truck,” Breen said.

The lighting system was updated. The brake system was rebuilt. The rusted running boards were replaced, and the truck was secured to its chassis with new mounts.

The old motor and transmission got some maintenance, too, but Breen said there will be more to do the next time they get some money together.

Luverne is named for the Minnesota city where she was built for the St. Paul Fire Department. After years of service, the city let the Vulcan Krewe start using her in the 1950s. The Vulcans officially took ownership in 1996, according to the organization’s history.

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A local fire department is seeking a federal grant to help acquire a new $1.2 million fire truck.

As required through the grant program, Long Hill Township would provide $60,000 in matching funds to make the purchase possible.

The Long Hill Township Committee, at its Wednesday, Jan. 13 meeting, approved a resolution that authorizes the Millington Volunteer Fire Company to apply for $1,140,000 in federal funding assistance.

Those federal funds would come by way of an Assistance to Firefighter Grant (AFG) through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

"Millington Volunteer Fire Company would like to submit a grant application to the Department of Homeland Security's Assistance to Firefighters Grant to purchase an aerial apparatus," according to the resolution.

The "estimated cost of this apparatus is $1,200,000 with a required minimum of not less than 5 percent cash match by the township."

The $60,000 cash match would be provided through the Capital Improvement Fund.

The Jan. 13 action by the Township Committee marked the second straight meeting its members approved a federal grant request to improve Long Hill's fire service.

The Long Hill Township Fire Department has previously used federal grant funds to purchase SCBA equipment and a fire truck.

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The Washington Fire/Rescue team said they were assisting the Goldsby Fire Department to fight a grass fire when their truck was involved in an accident.

The roll-over crash totaled the department's brush pumper truck.

The department said all firefighters were fine and there were no injuries.

The department thanked residents for their calls of concern in a Facebook post late Sunday evening.

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Pete Lohmer recently donated the open-top truck to be used in parades and funerals for firefighters either killed in the line of duty or after they've retired. The Waco Fire Department Honor Guard/Pipes & Drum nonprofit organization is thrilled with the vehicle, which began its history not far from where Lohmer's 2003 adventure began.

Dillon, a town of about 4,000 residents, bought the truck new in 1956 from an American LaFrance dealership in New York. It still has Dillon's name on it, along with the No. 3 engine number.

Former Dillon Volunteer Fire Chief Roy Cornell remembers the truck well. Cornell spent 32 years with the Dillon Volunteer Fire Department and was fire chief from 1988 until his retirement in 2000. He now drives school buses in Dillon.

"I'm surprised it's in Texas now," Cornell, 76, told the Waco Tribune-Herald. "I suppose the weather's better for it."

He remembers driving the open-top vehicle around Dillon in temperatures well below zero degrees.

"This is better than finding out it's in a junkyard," he said. "I kind of grew up with that truck. That was a new truck when I was a kid in school."

Current Dillon Fire Marshal Rick Later said Dillon is known for its fly-fishing and hunting, especially during the summer. The fire department, formed in 1905, has a large jurisdiction in southwestern Montana, probably "bigger than some states back east," Later said.

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