1940 Seagrave Pumper

In the Monday, November 9, 1982 copy of The Record, “North Jersey Today” there appeared an article concerning the antique fire pumper which is located at the company 3 firehouse. On page 1 of Sec.B there is a picture of the apparatus and the restoration Committee which consisted of Company Chief Clayton “Butch” Kimbal, Steve Adamowicz, Tom Kennedy, Tom Kopp and Chairman of the Committee Edward Polak. The story appears on page 2.

PARAMUS FIRE ENGINE BEGINS LIFE AT 42

  What’s big and shiny and red all over?

Members of the Paramus Volunteer Fire Company No. 3 can answer the riddle quickly, their 1940, Seagrave.

Built 42 years ago in Columbus, Ohio, the mint-condition pumper truck is “the pride and joy of the company” says Clayton “Butch” Kimball, Chief of Company 3 and a member of the restoration crew.

The truck has been painted, polished, waxed, restored and cleaned by the 13-man committee of the 30-member Company on Midland Avenue. The other night they were at it again, preparing the pumper for a winter under wraps before its next competition in the spring.

Lift up the hood and you can see your reflection in the polish of the engine parts. Under the chassis and in the corners of the equipment-storage compartments, not a speck of dust is discernible.

It is the final product of countless hours of labor and many contributions, members of the company estimate.

This year, the Midland Avenue Company entered its truck in seven competitions, known as Engine Musters among aficionados. It placed first in six and was disqualified on a technicality in the seventh, said Edward Polak, chairman of the Seagrave Committee.

Paramus Borough bought the truck when it was fresh off the assembly line in 1940. Kimball said, pointing to a picture of the crew with their then new engine. Two men in the photograph, William Schwarz and Godfrey Plock, still belong to the Company and the Department and their recollections are contributing to the history of the vehicle that Kimball is compiling.

After 17 years of service, answering more than 300 calls a year, the truck was placed on the reserve list. The last fire it responded to was in 1965.

Six years later, the Company bought the truck from the Borough and began their painstaking restoration. Interest waxed and waned, Polak said, until the first competition which it won hands down. From there on it was every members pride and joy.