Firefighters aim to restore vintage pumper

A piece of Kalispell's firefighting history may be getting a second lease on life.

Kalispell Fire Department Operations Chief Dave Dedman and former firefighter Allen "Gus" Gustafson are again making efforts to restore the department's 1925 pumper truck.

"The way I see it, this is a big part of Kalispell's history," Dedman said.

The truck - a Type 12 1,000-gallon pumper manufactured by American-LaFrance Fire Engine Co. in Elmira, N.Y. - cost the city a whopping $13,500 when it was purchased on April 1, 1925.

The pumper remained in use until 1983. During that time it only logged 999 miles on its odometer.

Its six-cylinder engine could muster 105 horsepower and a top speed of 43 miles per hour.

"If you hit 35 you were really hauling," said Gustafson, a veteran of 30 years of firefighting.

Gustafson has been trying to get the restoration project going since the early 1990s, near the end of his career with the department. Gustafson was among those who used the truck while it was still in service.

"I used to fight fire with it, it was a good pumper," Gustafson said. "It pumped really well but it was rough on hydrants because it would water hammer."

He compared the issue to when someone turns a sink faucet off and there is a ‘bang' and impact in the pipes below the sink, which is hard on the plumbing.

"The truck would get to water hammering so bad it would tear out hydrants blocks away," Gustafson said. "Needless to say, the water department really frowned on us using it."

By the end of its useful life, the truck was brought in at the end of a fire to pump water for cleanup and to deal with any hot spots that may flare up so the better equipment could be taken back to the department and prepared for the next call.

Dedman said he as well as all the firefighters are excited about the project, which he said wouldn't cost the city a dime.

"This restoration is going to be on an all-volunteer basis," Dedman said. "We're not going to be using any city money to do it."

He said he believes restoring the truck will help inspire more interest in the department from those outside as well as pride from those within.

The project itself will involve several steps, beginning with Gustafson clear-coating the body of the truck. It still features its original paint job, which was done entirely by hand and includes actual gold leaf.

"It would be a shame to lose the patina of it," Gustafson said. "This was an art."

A more involved effort will be repairing the engine to running condition. The engine has a cracked head which must be fixed as parts aren't exactly easy to find. Dedman has found one replacement part for the truck - an engine thermometer called a motor meter, located where a hood ornament would be placed on a car - at an auction in England for several hundred dollars.

"We're trying to set up a fund so people can donate money," Dedman said.

Efforts to locate other pieces and accessories have been going on for some time. For example, the hose reel had been taken off the truck and hung up in the old fire station years ago before eventually being taken down and reused for the hose used to clean the floor of the station.

"Then I finally realized we were going to lose that reel if we didn't start taking care of it," Gustafson said. "So I went and bought a surplus hose reel to replace it and put it back in the truck."

Some parts have been lost that may not be able to be replaced, according to Dedman, such as the chemical tank and the bell.

"The bell, unfortunately, went out of the building, and the last it was heard of was at one of the lakes hanging on a tree," Gustafson said. "Then from there somebody spotted it and hauled it back to Minnesota or something, so it's gone."

Among those features still remaining are the nickel-plated headlamps and fluted glass covers, the unique honeycomb radiator and engine hand crank. Stored in the back of the truck are original leather buckets, hose attachments and a wooden ladder.

Dedman said restoration of the truck likely will begin this winter when there is more downtime in the department, and also as money become available. Once finished, the truck will be driven in parades and brought out at other special events once the restoration is finished.

Gustafson said the inspiration behind the project, both in past failed attempts and the current project, has always been the same.

"It's preserving the heritage of this department," Gustafson said.