Syracuse FD Rescue & More . . .

[drfeelgood]

A bit of a post-script . . . I have had a few private messages basically asking me, "Whatever happened to this apparatus? Where did it end up after the SFD disposed of it?"  The truest answer is that in many cases, I just don't know. Once we send them to auction, we generally lose track of them pretty quickly. In these days of big apparatus brokers, that is especially true - they could literally end up anywhere, even out of the country. I do, however, have a few "parting shots" of four of our previous rescues. I have included them below, for whatever interest there may be:

 

First, the 1941 COE Chevrolet "Light Squad" - This vehicle was in reserve status and quartered at Station 6 when I was about 7 or 8 years old, and my dad was driving E6. This would have been about 1961 or so. I remember playing on it as a kid when I would stop in downtown to see my dad (Yes, a kid that age was safe travelling downtown on the bus back then). Years later, when I first came on the job in 1973, it was sitting behind the Division of Maintenance, having been cut down to a flatbed for use as a utility truck in the yard. It was auctioned the next year, and I don't know where it went. It still ran, and I actually drove it a few times.

 

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The next vehicle is the 1977 International Paystar/ Saulsbury. It is pictured here in a broker's yard after we had disposed of it at auction in the early 1990's. It certainly is sad to see this noble beast in such a state. Sic Transit Gloria Mundi. 

 

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And here we have the 1986 International/Saulsbury tandem that replaced it, and so heroically protected its crew in the rollover accident that spelled the end of its SFD career.  I agree with all of you who will say that it doesn't look that bad, and wonder whether it could have been fixed?  Trust me, the damage was more profound than it looks - absolutely everything on the vehicle had been "tweaked" just enough to require a complete rebuild of the body and frame. Also, a new rescue was already "in the pipeline", so it made little sense to spend a lot of money on the old one. It was still driveable, and the individual who purchased it at auction removed the damaged rescue body and made a 10-wheel dump truck out of it. I used to see it around on the roads south of the city for a while, but not in a long time now, so i suppose it's gone for good at this point.

 

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And finally, the 1997 E-One that gave us so much trouble over the years. It finally did go to auction, and at one point was up in Canada looking for a buyer. Here's a "for sale" picture of it long after it left us. Again, no idea where it is now.

 

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Many years ago i came across the 77 rescue in a scrap yard in Scranton Pa. when visiting my wife's family. The yard owner wasn't to helpful and he said it wasn't for sale or wouldn't even let me look at it from the other side of the fence. The next day I drove by the scrap yard it had been moved from where you could see it from the road.