Case Closed

It didn't take very long. Thanks to Joe Lowry and a Fire Service Bulletin Board that he is a member of, old Truck #3 has been found. It took a little over 24 hours. Needless to say, I am impressed.

I came out of the desert last night to find a series of emails/post comments informing me that what used to be RIV Truck #3 is now Tower 61 from the Kimberton Fire Company, in Chester County PA.

Tower 61 - Photo by Warren W. Jenkins 5/2007

RIV Truck3 Ca. 1997 RFD photo

I gotta say, I think it looks better now than it did when it was with us. It appears that the KFC has made a few changes. Obviously, it has been repainted. I like the "Z" trim, it is a definite improvement over the original trim. There has been a little trim added to the cab and the mirrors have been replaced, they nust not have cared for the "bus" mirrors that it originally came with. There seems to be an additional compressed air cylinder mounted to the boom and the lighting seems to have been upgraded.

I rang up the KFC and spoke with a member of the department. He said that they are very happy with the unit, and that it has been relatively problem free. It's kind of funny, when speaking with one of our mechanics last week, he mentioned that "we had just worked out all of the bugs with it" when we traded it in. I guess all of the shop's efforts paid off, just not for us!

Tower 61 runs a little over 600 times a year and is the second out unit for the station, behind a rescue pumper.

Much like selling a puppy, it's always good to know when a piece of equipment finds a good home. It appears that Old Truck Three is thriving in it's current rol and. it sounds like Kimberton plans on keeping Tower 61 for a while. That news that makes me happy as well.

Although the fire service has a bajillion members throughout the country, I  knew that this rig would be found once I posted about it. Thanks to Joe Lowry for his help with this and thanks to you for reading.

Schmoe