However, Aetna members hope that with a little tender love and care – and a lot of fundraising – they can restore it to its former glory.

The goal is to have it restored by 2021, the fire engine’s 100th birthday, longtime Aetna member Diane Silverman said.

“The idea was just to bring it back home,” Silverman said. “Someday, if we get enough money raised, we’ll put it back like it was.”

Aetna originally bought the Stutz pumper for $13,500, according to the fire company’s official history. The fire company’s second motorized truck, the Stutz arrived June 18, 1921, and was housed in the old firehouse on Academy Street. The current firehouse at the corner of Academy Street and Delaware Avenue wasn’t built until the next year.

In 1937, Aetna sent the pumper back to the Stutz company in Indiana to be rebuilt with a new engine and other modifications. The rebuild cost Aetna $5,650, and the Stutz served the fire company until 1966, when the department leadership sold it to Elkton Christian School in Maryland.

Little is known about what happened to the Stutz after that, but a chance encounter by an Aetna life member in Indiana brought it back into Aetna’s sights.

The truck is going to the Long Creek Volunteer Fire Department so they can better serve their community. The city of Newport says this is the first time they’ve donated a truck. It was taken out of service in 2006 but still works great.

Both departments say the city and county worked together to make this happen, and this is also Long Creek’s first diesel-powered truck.

“Both our other trucks, our tanker and our engine, are gas and we’re hoping it’ll help the community a little more,” said Joey Ailes Jr., Long Creek VFD Assistant Chief.

“It is nice to be able to help and it makes us feel good that somebody in Cocke County is going to be able to use this engine again,” said Newport Fire Cheif Randy Ragan.

Buying a new fire engine could have cost the volunteer fire department upwards of $10,000. They say this donation will help them save lives.

"It was just time," said Chief Ronnie Waller. "You try to figure on a fire truck maybe 20 years lifetime on it. We got many more years than 20 over this one."

"From a safety standpoint, upgrade and have the latest state of the art equipment that we can afford," said Board of Supervisor JT Davis.

The Board has agreed to give $150,000 a year to help the volunteer fire departments in the county. Each year, a committee decides which department gets part of the $150,000.