1936 Fire Engine "KFD No.2" being restored

After resting peacefully for nearly four decades, Kingfisher Fire Department Engine No. 2 is finally being awakened.

The 1936 Ford V8 pumper and ladder truck was donated to the Chisholm Trail Museum in 1972 where it was parked in the east wing. It hasn’t budged since.

Three decades of dust have settled on the faded red paint and all six tires are flat and dry-rotted.
A handful of local citizens, however, have hopes that the old gal will run again.

In an effort spearheaded by Kingfisher’s Gary Williams, the ton-and-a-half engine was moved from its resting place recently in preparation for a restoration.

Williams, museum president Jeremy Ingle, museum groundskeeper Jerry Bratcher and a group of trusties from the Kingfisher County Jail worked to lift “No. 2” onto a set of car dollies, then turned the vehicle 90 degrees into a position where it can be more easily worked on.

In order to make the adjustment, a horse-drawn hearse and 1931 Ford Victoria also had to be repositioned. “No. 2” now has the south end of the east wing all to herself and volunteers including Big-Four Fireman Wade Burhenn and former Kingfisher High School Auto Instructor Chuck Henderson have been working to get her up and running again.

Before the work began, museum records did not provide much information about the engine, though a little research has produced the story. In January of 1936, the Kingfisher Fire Department was responding to a house fire using its only engine, a 1919 American LaFrance.

With Firefighters Elmer McLeod at the wheel, Fritz Hauser on the running board and Olin Wall, Jake Ewy and Tommy Phillips on the rear platform it collided with a pickup truck at the intersection of Seventh and Broadway. The vehicle struck fire engine in the left rear wheel just a couple of feet from where Hauser was riding. The impact shoved the fire engine sideways for several feet. Wall and Ewy were thrown to the street but suffered minor injuries. The rear platform of the LaFrance was twisted out of line and two light chemical tanks were damaged when knocked off the truck. Nevertheless, only a slight delay in the fire run resulted from the accident.

With the city’s only fire engine in bad shape, it was decided to look for a new one. The city commission let bids and in March of 1936, the bids were opened. Only four bids were received, ranging from $3,000 to $3,500. The lowest bid was on fire fighting equipment only and did not include a truck. The highest was made by a firm specializing in fire trucks built on standard low-priced truck chassis.

During the last city commission meeting in March, an order was placed for a new truck from the Peter-Pirsch and Sons Company of Kenosha, Wisconsin. The contract called for the new fire engine to be constructed on a Ford V8 ton-and-a-half chassis of 157-inch wheel base, with dual rear wheels. It was to be completely equipped and to carry a 500-gallon pump with 100-gallon booster tank. The price tag was set at $3,500 with delivery.

The new pride-and-joy of the Kingfisher Fire Department arrived in the city at 4:15 p.m., Wednesday, June 3, 1936 with “siren shrieking and bell clanging.” A Kingfisher Times report of June 4 said that the “first love of the local firemen, a 1919 American LaFrance, will now be superseded in their affections by the new Ford truck, which has youth, beauty and scads of energy.

“The truck was driven to Kingfisher from Enid by driver Tom Brown, with police patrolman Olin Wall at the bell position. Arriving at the city limits, the fireworks were turned loose, giving people almost as big a thrill as might have been occasioned by a real fire,” the story read. “With the new truck in service, attendance at future fires is expected to be much larger than in the past. Applications for positions on the volunteer fire force are also expected to go up like the mercury in a thermometer on a July afternoon in Oklahoma.”

The truck was brought to Kingfisher after having been on display at the Oklahoma State Firemen’s Association’s 42nd annual convention, held in Enid June 1-3, 1936.

The old American La France, which had served faithfully for nearly 17 years, was to be treated to a complete overhaul job and held in reserve for emergency use.

“No. 2” was just 36 years old when it was donated to the museum in 1972. The story goes that a house painter, who only wanted the ladders, had purchased the vehicle at a city auction and left the rest for scrap. His widow then donated the fire engine to the museum. It sat in one spot at the museum just one year shy of its total years of service with the Kingfisher Fire Department.

Now, old “No. 2” is awake, though not quite mobile. Since she was driven to her current location, she may not need much work to get her running.

Once this primary task has been accomplished, Williams and others would like to restore the vehicle’s original exterior beauty with a little body work, fresh red paint and white pinstripes, and gold decals. Other items needed will included appropriate fire-fighting accessories, hoses, ladders and a few replacement light lenses.

“It would be so great if the whole community would get involved in this restoration,” Williams said. “There’s so much to do to bring this engine back to life that everyone can help in some way.”

An quick internet search produced only two other known working and restored 1936 Ford Pirsch fire engines. One is in Mora, Minn., and the other is in Manitoba, Canada.

Volunteers are welcome to participate in the restoration project and donations toward the goal are accepted. For more information, contact Williams or visit the museum at 605 Zellers Avenue in Kingfisher for a closer look.

[by Jeremy A. Ingle, History Writer, Kingfisher Times & Free Press, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2009]