A PIECE OF BROWNSVILLE FIREFIGHTERS' HISTORY

By Juan Montoya
An old workhorse of the Brownsville Fire Dept. in its early days, a 55-foot, 1927 American LaFrance fire aerial truck with rear tiller is on its way back home.

Depending on how long it takes it to get here from Pennsylvania, the truck could arrive here any day.

The truck, after it was junked by the city for scrap metal in a  local junkyard, was purchased by truck dealer John W. Brown, of Chambersburg, Pa., His son Ronald Earl, told firefighters that his father had always wanted the truck to go back to Brownsville.

Ronald Earl said his father, who died in 2006, had the truck restored to its original paint and colors that include the original city logo. Photos of the condition of the truck when it was purchased indicate that the restoration job was well done and that the engine work allowed the Browns to drive it in local parades.

Brownsville Firefighters Association Local #970 President Jorge Lerma said the family had reached out to city officials and the fire department because the late John Brown had included the restored truck in his will and left it to his son and daughter. Lerma said that his son had told him that the father had told them that Brownsville should have the chance to buy it first so that it could go back to its place of origin.

"The family has been really patient with us about getting it," Lerma said. "I first started talking to them about five years and we actually gave the city a check for $1,000 in earnest money to offer the family so they cold hold it until we could come up with the money."

Lerma said he credits city commissioner Ben Neece who, when he heard that the fire truck

was
available, did what he could to try to get the city
to cough up the money. The Browns had originally asked for more than $100,000, a not unreasonable sum given the time and effort it took the family to restore it to its original specs.

"They easily spent that much just resorting it," Lerma said. "They even kept the original gold-leaf paint and the original Brownsville firefighters' logo. Imagine getting a fully-restored 91-year-old aerial fire truck with a tiller seat for $50,000 plus transportation. It easily could cost double or triple that."

The firefighters' money was eventually returned after Neece and Asst. City Manager Michael Lopez sought funding from the various city accounts. Lerma said that Neece had been stumped on a funding source that did not involve restricted funds and that Lopez had eventually found an appropriate fund for the purchase of the truck.

Some local firefighters remember that the truck was kept in storage at a warehouse at the Brownsville airport and that the last time it was used in a parade was during the Bicentennial in 1976. A 1975 edition of the Brownsville Herald shows firefighters cleaning the truck and in preparation for the 100th anniversary of the Brownsville Fire Dept.

Retired firefighter Pete Avila said that he was in the parade Bicentennial parade in 1976 and that he remembers firefighter Margarito Davila and tiller Ruben Garza driving it down Elizabeth Street.

"The truck backfired and went out near the Palm Lounge and officer Geronimo Camarillo (who was a mechanic) got out and opened up the hood and got it started up again," Avila recalled. "The crowd thought it was part of the show and clapped and clapped."

Neece and Lerma both said that the truck needs to be displayed in a prominent place given its historical significance to the city and the firefighters. They say a showcase like the one for Simon Celaya's locomotive in front of the Historical Brownsville Museum on 7th Street would be ideal.

"We are lucky to have been able to acquire the fire truck," Lerma said. "I can't give enough credit to commissioner Neece and Asst. City Manager Lopez for making its return possible. I can hardly wait for it to get here. It's an important piece of our local history."