Excerpts from the journal-topics.com:
Niles firefighters saw a 1940s-era fire truck rejoin the village’s fleet last month.
On May 1, 1941, the Village of Niles purchased a Model 21 Pirsch Triple Combination Fire Engine for $6,150. Last month that engine, with its designation of “Niles Fire Dept. No. 2”, returned home to Niles, where it will be displayed and driven in parades by firefighters.
Fire Chief Marty Feld said the designation at the time meant the engine was the second engine purchased by the department. It was in service in Niles from 1941 into the 1960s.
Feld said the previous owners of the engine, a couple living in Birchwood, WI, contacted a Niles firefighter asking if the village might be interested in purchasing the vehicle. That firefighter brought the offer to Feld, who researched the vehicle, verifying it was the second fire engine the village ever purchased, and found that while it did need a little work, it still runs.
The three-man, DeLuxe Cab, 350-gallon booster tank-equipped, multi-stage centrifugal pump engine was purchased for $5,000.
The truck came with working lights, themselves worth thousands of dollars each, and is equipped to be started with a hand crank just under the front grill. The truck has a pompier ladder to be hooked onto window sills to allow firefighters to climb from floor to floor on the exterior of a building.
The pumper will remain at the public works garage for the immediate future. The village is looking to build a new fire station, possibly as soon as 2025. Feld said he would like to see an area in that new station where the truck could be placed on display for the public. Fire Station No. 2 currently has a small museum with artifacts from the department, including an old horse-drawn pumper wagon.
Before the village built a second fire station in the 1960s, pumpers were numbered in the order they were purchased by the village.
After Truck No. 2 was decommissioned sometime in the 1960s, it was sold to an unknown Park Ridge man. In the 1990s the village bought it back from that owner and later sold it in trade to Wirfs Industries.
The village’s Engine No. 1 was a 1936 open-cab truck. After it was decommissioned, it began a second life in a Niles park where kids could play on it, until the edges became too sharp and dangerous.
Niles FD photo
Niles FD archives
Niles FD archives
Niles FD archives
Niles FD photo
