Century-old fire engine returning to Sheridan
Century-old fire engine returning to Sheridan
By Stephen Dow
The Sheridan Press
Via Wyoming News Exchange
SHERIDAN — A piece of Sheridan history will soon return home.
According to Sheridan Fire-Rescue Chief Gary Harnish, a 1919 American LaFrance Fire Engine used by the city more than a century ago has been located more than 2,000 miles away in Surfside Beach, South Carolina. Even better, the Surfside Beach Fire Department is dedicated to helping the fire engine return home, and Harnish said he is excited for the engine to become part of the Sheridan community again.
“Different opportunities to show it could be anything from a car show to parades to (delivering) Mr. and Mrs. Claus on (Christmas) Stroll night,” Harnish said. “So (we have) a lot of different opportunities to get this vehicle out for the public to see it… It’s a unique opportunity for Sheridan.”
The fire engine was first purchased in the summer of 1919 during a special session of the Sheridan City Council, Harnish said. It cost $11,000 — or roughly $165,619 in 2021 dollars.
Although the engine was an expensive purchase, it was a necessary one, Harnish said.
“In 1919, the city of Sheridan Fire Department and the city of Sheridan realized they had a problem,” Harnish said. “They didn’t own a pump. So all firefighting was done with water pressure off of the hydrants…This would be a vehicle that could not only drive itself to fight the fire — it didn’t need horses — but it also had a pump on it so you could take what little water pressure there was from the mains at the time …and develop pressure and effective fire streams.”
The engine arrived on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad in December 1919 and served the city well for many years, Harnish said. But as it was replaced by newer equipment, the fire department eventually lost track of the old engine.
After the existence of the engine was rediscovered in the mid-1990’s, then-Captain Edgar Fack began a quest to return the engine to Sheridan, Harnish said. In 2005, the engine was for sale in Washington and the Local 276 Sheridan Firefighters agreed to purchase it before it was sold to another buyer.
Fack kept pursuing the engine.
“Captain Fack basically made this a quest for about 20 years,” Harnish said. “He followed this engine all around the country.”
At some point between 2005 and 2013, the fire engine was returned to American LaFrance, which loaned it out for two years to the Surfside Beach Fire Department in 2013. American LaFrance went bankrupt during that two-year period, leaving the engine in Surfside Beach permanently. With new equipment arriving soon, Surfside Beach is eager to offload the old engine and return it home to Sheridan, Harnish said.
The two fire departments are currently working on a loan agreement that will bring the fire engine home. The Local 276 will cover all transportation and maintenance costs for the engine, although it is in remarkably good condition, Harnish said.
“I was told last year it still ran and drove,” Harnish said. “Like I said, in 2005, we know it ran. Captain Fack drove it. So it appears to be in the same condition as it sits in Surfside.”
The fire department is asking the city to cover the engine under their insurance policy, which should be easy to do, according to City Administrator Stuart McRae.
“As far as insurance is concerned, we have a clause that covers all of our property entirely,” McRae said. “So there wouldn’t be any additional cost in our insurance.”
The engine will join other pieces of Sheridan fire history housed at Sheridan Fire-Rescue including a 1890s fire cart and a 1940s fire engine, Harnish said.
“To the firefighters, it’s about history,” Harnish said. “We’ve always been fiercely proud of our house history, and this being a museum-quality piece of apparatus that will actually still function is very exciting for the group.”
No date has been set for the engine’s return, Harnish said.