Make History Today Boys...

I was not going to post today because nothing major occurred on this day in history in the years I have typed in the data base, but with the amount of people viewing the site each day (49 completely different people looked at the site yesterday) I didn't want to miss a day. I didn't have the chance to prepare a rig or anything else for the entry so I thought I would put this one up.

The photograph is from Barren Hill and would have been taken in the 1950's. The unit on the far left is a 1947 Ford rescue truck. West End Fire and Rescue purchased the rig sometime in 1959 or 1960 the exact date unknown. It was in the company's possession in June of 1960.

The rig right beside the rescue (second from left) is a Ford pumper. Some think WEFR purchased their 1950 Ford Maxim engine from Barren Hill. I even found photographs of the Barren Hill engine at WEFR but like all history their is a twist making me doubt it. WEFR purchased the rig in August 1965 and took possession of it in September of that year. Barren Hill celebrated their 50Th anniversary that year and the rig is in the photo with their fleet. It could still be the same engine. But upon further investigation of the photographs the Barren Hill rig had a steamer intake on the curb side, WEFR's also had a 2 1/2 inch discharge above it. On the pump panel side their is many things different between the WEFR rig and the builders photo for Barren Hill. Now is gets more confusing the pump panel on this photograph does not match the builders photo but more closely resembles the WEFR pump panel. Both rigs appear to be the same year, I am no expert on ages of rigs but the fenders, lights and everything else is the same.

Did Barren Hill have two of these rigs? Could the pump panel have been altered? Is this the same rig WEFR owned? All of these are good questions and ones I have no answer for. WEFR's minutes do not state where they purchased the rig from, it would make sense that they would purchased another rig from Barren Hill since they already had an association with the company. I plan to get a hold of someone from Barren Hill to see what their minutes say, maybe that will give us a definite answer, but in the past I have not had much luck with departments returning my messages or calls.