**This firetruck is now housed at the new fire station on Cassville Road below Oak Hill Cemetery... Cartersville Centennial Edition, 1972 Renovated firetruck to Draw Attention A lot of sweat and hard work by members of the Cartersville Fire Department has provided the city with an attraction that will draw a lot of attention during Centennial Week and in the years to come. The old adage that “the impossible takes a little longer,” might well apply in the case of this special attraction, as few people would have thought that after more than half a century, the city’s first fire truck is back in service. Bought to replace the horse-drawn firefighting equipment in 1918, the truck had been out of regular service since 1948, and for all practical purposes hadn’t been cranked in more than two and a half years. But when the Cartersville Centennial Parade begins to wind its way through our city on Saturday August. 26, its units will include a marvelously restored American-LaFrance fire engine, a 750-gallon pumper that looks like it just came off the assembly line. A trial run of the vehicle has been restored over the last month by extraordinary effort on the part of each member of the Cartersville Fire Department, and special assistance by a number of local citizens, was made Aug. 19, as the vehicle rolled in the Rockmart Centennial Parade, carrying a delegation of Cartersville city officials, including Mayor Clyde Charles and Fire Chief Norris Westbrooks. The local fire chief is very outspoken in his praise of the members of his department who have worked around-the-clock on putting the fire engine back into topnotch service. He also emphasizes that while the fire engine is “retired from firefighting service,” it will be maintained in the future along with all of the other department equipment and kept in service for special occasions, particularly educational tours, city functions and parades. Westbrooks said a special vote of thanks should go to City Manager Finn Moffett, Mayor Clyde Charles and Aldermen Pete Smith, Minor Shadburn, David Archer and Edsel Dean, for authorizing the financing of the restoration project. Others who went out of their way to render special assistance in securing parts or providing materials used in the remodeling of the old engine, include Ernest Cochran and Curley Averson of City Motors, who contributed equipment and workmanship in repainting; members of the Cartersville Volunteer Fire Department, who paid for the gold leafing on the hood; W. Z. Mills, local upholsterer who restored the seat; and Harold McDonald of Delta Tire Co., who sent teletypes throughout the southeast to locate tires for the old vehicle. “We want to give all of these people a special vote of thanks,” said Westbrooks, “because without them, we couldn’t have put the engine back in shape.” Westbrooks also singled out every member of his department as having contributed something in the way of special effort in connection with the project. “Every member of the Fire department worked on it, you might say day and night, without any gripes or complaints, and we are all proud of the results,” Westbrooks said. One other person who contributed greatly to the project is J. O. (Jud) Eaves, a local resident who knows the vehicle better than any other. Eaves is a southeastern representative of the American-LaFrance Fire Engine Co. Inc., the Elmira, N. Y. firm which built the vehicle and sold it to the city. When the engine was first bought Eaves was employed by A. G. White Inc., and came to work for the city “on loan”, to teach the members of the Fire department to drive and operate the truck. An arrangement that started out as a two-to-three-month project, lasted approximately three years, and then Eaves left the department to go with the American-LaFrance Co., a position he has held approximately 50 years, although he is now semi-retired. But during the restoration of the old truck, he has offered valuable technical assistance, as well as special manuals on wiring and other phases of the truck operation. Another group that has assisted in the project has been the City Garage, who helped with changing the tires and did some work on the engine. The overhaul of the mechanical part of the truck included everything but the engine itself, as no valves, pistons, etc., required working on. Replacements did include a gas line, a few hoses, ignition wiring, new plugs, and numerous other small items. The six-cylinder, has a double ignition system, and magnets that provides ignition power as an auxiliary to the battery operation. All of this has been restored, and with the steam-cleaning of the engine, has it looking and performing like new. Old firefighting equipment holds a special attraction for history buffs, tourists and boys of all ages, and the city of Cartersville now has the vehicle that many believe will draw some attention. It appears certain to hold the attention of the guys who have worked so hard to put it back in shape, and now will again be part of the permanent station equipment at the main Fire Department headquarters at City Hall.
Posted on: Sat, 03 Jan 2015 00:16:54 +0000
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