“We were very fortunate enough to receive the grant that outfitted our whole department,” firefighter Eric Moran said, adding they became the first career department to receive a grant equipping all 42 firefighters through the Lt. Joseph P. DiBernardo Memorial Foundation, created by the family of one of the firefighters injured on Black Sunday.

“Every fire department should be outfitted with these,” Moran said. “It’s necessary safety equipment.”

Each firefighter now has a seat harness that wraps around the waist and through the legs, as well as a pouch that holds the emergency escape system — a metal hook connected by rope to a descender, a mechanical grip that allows the firefighter to control the rope feeding through it.

Crowder said it will also help the Bastrop Fire Department to achieve a better fire rating for the City of Bastrop and Morehouse Parish. The Bastrop Fire Department would like to thank James “Bubba” Boyd for his assistance. Pictured left to right are Bastrop Fire Chief Thomas Crowder, District 2 Fire Board Member Anthony Griffith, Firefighter Darius Wilson, Firefighter Evan Bordelon, Fire Prevention Officer Timothy Williams, Captain Orlando Mitchell, Firefighter Adam Deshazo, Captain Brad White, Captain Corey Robinson, Firefighter Thad Townsend, Captain Scott Bulloch, Captain Stephen Peeples, Firefighter Thomas Tomboli, Captain John Sharp, District 2 Fire Board Member Steve Mitcham and Training Officer Rodney P. Brown.

The 1990 engine could be worth anywhere between $45,000 to $70,000, Wilkinson said. Lone Pine even left the ladders on the truck and Clem’s Decals in Belle Vernon donated the new decals, including their class patch. The program had an engine prior to the donation that wasn’t in the best shape when they originally received it, so they’re trying to determine what to do with it now.

Equipped with about 60 horsepower, the truck undoubtedly signaled immediate unemployment for a couple of horses of the 4-legged kind because their services were no longer needed.  

Decommissioned in 1953 after 30 years of service to the town, the fire truck was moved from one storage facility to another over the next 65 years and most folks lost track of it. Earlier this year, village officials asked the Navarre-Bethlehem Township Historical Society if it would accept the truck as a donation and restore it.