A Piece of Hicksville Fire Department History Comes Back Home
More than 60 years after the Hicksville Volunteer Fire Department’s fire engine was decommissioned, the vintage truck has returned home. In August, the Hicksville Fire Department was made aware of the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to return the antique apparatus to Hicksville. This unit that once proudly served the Hicksville community was considered lost to the salvage yard but has now been resurrected.
The fire truck, a 1948 Seagrave Pumper, recently returned home thanks to Cross Island Towing, and the members of Emergency Company 5 are working on a plan to restore it. Company Historian and former Chief Karl Schweitzer was excited that the department could restore this historical apparatus.
According to Schweitzer, this truck responded at a critical point in the growth of the Hicksville Community. In December of 1947, the Hicksville Fire Department approved the construction of a new Seagrave from their plant in Columbus, Ohio. According to the painter’s log, the pumper started production on March 22, 1948, and was completed on October 28, 1948. This engine was a Seagrave Model 66 with sealed beam warning lights on each corner of the windshield. It could pump 750 gallons of water per minute and was equipped with wood extension ladders and 500 feet of cotton-jacketed hose. Following the Underwriter’s test on November 16, 1948, the Hicksville Fire District accepted the delivery of the 1948 Seagrave.
In 1960, Hicksville’s most disastrous fire caused more than $300,000 in damage, but not before more than 20 volunteer firefighters were overcome by smoke, about half of whom required hospital treatment. The fire started in the Kantor Brothers tire, recapping part of the building, and swept through the Joyce Charm School, Olga’s Specialty Shop, and the Blackman & Klein Plumbing Store. The fire swept through the building located at Broadway and Nicholi Street. As a result of the fire, the Seagrave was pumped at very high pressure for an extended time, and the truck was rendered unrepairable. The records at Seagrave and the Hicksville Fire District indicated that the rig was sold to Vergennes, Vermont, on October 23, 1962, and serviced the Salisbury Volunteer Fire Department in Vermont until the 1990s. A private collector has had possession of the unit since the 1990s.
Former Hicksville Fire Chief Patrick McGeough alerted Schweitzer of a posting on a historical apparatus website. Within just a few days, the Officers of Company 5 received a Facebook message from Andrew Rittner Jr. in Salisbury, Connecticut. Andrew asked if the department was “interested in bringing the truck home to the Hicksville community.” The truck was sold to the Saulsbury Volunteer Fire Department in 1980 and remained there until it was sold to a private collector, Andrew Rittner Sr, in the late 1980s. The truck was last run in 2004 and parked in the barn for restoration that was never begun. The current owner’s son sold his home and has no room for it at his new house.
The 1948 Seagrave is back in Hicksville, and now the work begins. The department has a dedicated group of members who will oversee the restoration of the apparatus, and it is lucky enough to have members with a great depth of mechanical experience and others who are just willing to get their hands dirty. A Restoration Committee has been set up under the direction of Captain Niemzcyk, including Schweitzer and ex-Chief Rich Diaz, ex-Captain Jeff Scelzi and several others.
“We’ll spend the next few years raising money to refurbish it. We’ve already started acquiring a few parts,” Diaz said. “What we’re hoping is that it will coincide with the 100th anniversary of our Company in 2028, and then we’ll display it and use it for parades and historical events.”
“I think it is a great idea to preserve the history of the fire service,” said Lieutenant Bodnar. “To find a truck like that intact is not very common. Many older fire trucks are sold off when they are retired, but many times, the upkeep is just too much, and they end up either being sold for scrap, sitting outside and rusting away, or becoming unrealized dreams of restoration, like this one was. It is a great motivational tool for recruitment and retention when our members can come together to preserve this old truck and restore it as close to its original working order as possible.”
The truck is now in storage. It is over 60 years old and needs some tender loving care. While there is limited rust, the truck needs a full restoration, and the members are excited at the prospect of coming together to bring new life into a bygone era of fire apparatus. Schweitzer said he has already received several calls from historians, restoration experts, and everyday people willing to lend their time and talent.
Schweitzer said the ultimate goal with the truck is to restore it to its former glory and use it in training exercises and parades, car shows, and department fundraising events. However, it must be restored first, and Schweitzer said the department’s members are examining ways to raise the money to restore the vehicle.
The funds may be costly—well above a pancake breakfast or a raffle ticket or two. That’s why the department is asking for history buffs, collectors, and people interested in seeing this truck come back to life. Schweitzer said the cost to restore this truck fully can be upwards of $30,000 or $40,000.
“We are looking at planning fundraisers and will accept donations from the public, too.,” Schweitzer said. “All donations will be tax deductible. People can make checks out to Hicksville Volunteer Fire Department and write in the memo line that it is to help pay for the “Emergency Company 5, Seagrave Fire Truck’s Restoration.”
Schweitzer is not the only department member who is excited the truck is back home; other department members are just as thrilled. This truck is the result of the blood, sweat, and tears of so many people. Schweitzer said that the process could take three to four years, depending on how quickly the department can secure the funding needed to restore the truck.
“It’s a labor of love,” Schweitzer said. “It’s going to take a long time and much work and bring a new sense of togetherness that will bring the various generations together and save a piece of timeless history.”
