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By Ron Heal

Is it here yet? Is it in the fire station? These were questions I had on the trip over to Champaign, Illinois, on July 19. The Champaign (IL) Fire Department was celebrating its 150th anniversary. A full day of events was set for the community and the department. The day would start with a noon parade. More than 50 pieces of fire apparatus had signed on to parade. Event organizers had worked hard to create a special day.

So why all the concern about if something was there yet? Late last fall, Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment did a feature on an old pumper mystery having been solved. The mystery involved a 1915 Seagrave pumper that had served Champaign as its first piece of motorized fire apparatus. This pumper had become a mystery to me back in the 1970s when I first learned of a vintage fire engine that had slipped away. There were plenty of stories to be told about the rig, but whatever became of the pumper was not known. A few decades later and with some very good luck, the mystery was solved and the pumper was found. Best of all, it was alive and well!

A stop at the SPAAMFAA Frankenmuth, Michigan, summer muster two years ago found Dr. Francis Glenn, a Blenheim, Ontario , Canada Seagrave fire apparatus enthusiast, displaying his 1930 ex Syracuse, NY TDA. Francis was kind enough to give me one of his business cards. Last fall I contacted Francis to ask him about doing a feature on his big Seagrave TDA. That is when I learned that the Ontario corn seed foundation genetics specialist had a keen interest in Seagrave and Bickle Seagrave apparatus. In fact, Glenn has 12 of those rigs in his collection. That is when I learned that my Champaign mystery was solved. Francis is a SPAAMFAA member and a regular participant at the Frankenmuth, Michigan, annual event. Twice in the last 10 years Frankenmuth has hosted the national SPAAMFAA summer muster. For vintage fire apparatus enthusiasts, Frankenmuth is a muster that is well worth attending, with more than 100 pieces of apparatus on display, paraded, and many operating along the river that winds through the muster site. It turned out that I had missed the Champaign Seagrave by a year when it made the Frankenmuth show with Glenn.

Once the mystery was solved and with the 1915 Seagrave soon having having a 100th birthday, I contacted the Champaign (IL) Fire Department to tell them of my great find. That is when I learned that the department would be observing its 150th anniversary in 2015. Perfect! If only the department and Francis could get together and work something out to have the rig back in Champaign—if only for a day or two! At the time of my call to Champaign Fire, the department was welcoming its new fire chief, Gary Ludwig. Early in his time at the department, Ludwig established a 150th anniversary steering committee. Lt. Brian Ball and Fire Marshal John Koller worked together very well to put together a special day for the department and the Champaign community. July 19 was the date. Best of all, Deputy Chief of Operations John Barker had contacted Glenn, and he agreed to trailer his 1915 Seagrave from southern Ontario to Champaign. The rig was coming home!

As the anniversary date neared, there were many details to work out. The parade would be a main attraction. There would also be a fire muster with games and competition for fire teams, and hands-on fire prevention displays and games for children. A large parking lot just off the downtown area served as the event site. Illinois weather can be an issue whatever the season. In spite of a forecast calling for thunderstorms, the weather just got better as the day and all the events moved along. The day was a big success as hundreds of people turned out for the 150th anniversary.

Arriving at the big downtown Champaign Central Fire Station early Sunday morning, I found the 1915 Seagrave pumper sitting in a back bay of the station. The rig is a six-cylinder, chain drive, pumper/chemical unit. No way does it show its 100-year age. The rig has been well preserved and restored. In 100 years the rig was never neglected and actually has had several restorations. Records indicate that the pumper was with the Champaign Fire Department from 1915 until 1938. It then moved on to serve the Louisville (IL) Fire Department and remained in service there until a new Ford pumper arrived in 1960. Pat Givens in Flora, Illinois, became the first collector to own the rig. Later he sold the pumper to James Lee Finney in Oblong, Illinois. In 1972 the rig was sold to Bill Foster in Cincinnati, Ohio. Foster had the rig repainted, matching the factory Seagrave red color codes. In 1977, SPAAMFAA member John Zangerle, purchased the pumper and moved it to Rocky River, Ohio. Zangerle undertook some serious restoration work on the rig. New 24-inch tires, a new seat, and a new oak battery box were first on the list. Next were graphics and striping to be done by noted fire apparatus restorer Ken Soderbeck at Hand in Hand Graphics in Jackson, Michigan. While the rig was at Soderbeck’s, a major engine overhaul was also completed. When Soderbeck completed his craftsmanship on the Seagrave, it looked like the pumper had just rolled off the Columbus, Ohio assembly line. The rig won the “Best Restored” award at the 1980 Great Lakes Chapter summer muster at Dearborn’s Greenfield Village. In 2006 Zangerle took the rig to the SPAAMFAA national summer convention in Columbus where the 1915 pumper supplied water to a Canton, Ohio 1925 Seagraves’ deck gun.

Parting with such a historic and well preserved fire engine was not easy. The lack of a heavy duty truck and trailer did limit the times that Zangerle could display the rig. That is when Glenn stopped by and made an offer that Zangerle could not refuse. In 2012, the rig moved over to southern Ontario. John felt that the rig was going to a good home—something most vintage fire apparatus owners hope for when the time comes to say goodbye to an old friend. His judgment proved to be correct when Glenn was able to bring the rig back home to Champaign in July.

A personal “Thanks” to Glenn for his gracious hospitality while in Champaign. He allowed opportunities to photograph the rig and, best of all, a chance to ride along out to the parade lineup area a few miles from the downtown fire station. Somehow all the events of the day are a blur, but having the big Seagrave being back in the barn at the Champaign (IL) Fire Department made my day and my fire apparatus buffing year!

RON HEAL compiles the “Apparatus Showcase” and “Recent Orders” departments monthly in Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment.