eventy-four years ago this week, the Canandaigua Fire Department had just taken delivery of a new fire engine. Built by American LaFrance on a 1941 Ford Chassis and delivered on March 18, 1942, the engine was housed at the Phoenix Street firehouse for the next 29 years.

Forty-five years ago this month, the little Ford fire engine had been relegated to reserve status, awaiting replacement in just six weeks by a new, larger and more-powerful engine built by Young Fire Apparatus. Then, at 12:25 a.m. on March 29, 1971, the alarm sounded for the deadliest fire in Canandaigua's history. The 1942 Ford would make its final run.

The story of the 1942 Ford's role in fighting the Canandaigua Inn fire was told to Messenger Post Media in 2007 by retired Firefighter Eric Outhouse, who drove the engine to that tragic call. The 2007 Fourth of July parade was the first appearance of the engine after it had been restored to like-new condition by Pat and Nelson Thorpe; and Eric Outhouse was on board.

Another eight out of a total of 16 passengers suffered minor injuries and received treatment from the Kubang Pasu Malaysian Civil Defence Department and hospital teams at the scene. State Fire and Rescue Department operation chief assistant director Nazri Zakaria said both the bus and fire engine were heading in the direction of Bukit Kayu Hitam prior to the incident.

Wales and his friend took just a year to build the LaBestioni from when they recovered the frame in May 2014. Mechanically, they left it largely stock but added power steering and disc brakes at the front. The engine is a massive six-cylinder, which displaces about 14 liters, and has four spark plugs for each cylinder. The cast iron pistons are the size of coffee cans. The power routes through a three-speed manual to a chain drive to turn the rear wheels.

The crash happened in the area of 118th Avenue and Quail Roost Drive in Southwest Miami-Dade.

Preliminary reports show that the fire truck was making a left turn when it was struck by the motorcycle. The two passengers on the motorcycle were transported to Kendall Regional Medical Center in critical condition. Nobody on the fire truck was injured.