West End Fire and Rescue’s 1947 Dodge Rescue

The only two major incidents to occur on this date were posted last year, an incident from 1973 and the job in Mainsville that happened last year.

This would become the first rig for the newly formed West End Fire and Rescue Company No. 3. It was originally owned by Henry’s Bakery and donated by Frank Hollar while the company was still in the planning stages as an annex to the Vigilant Hose Company sometime in early 1955. Member Merle Byers painted the rig red for the company and members mounted a ladder on the roof and lights and tools on the outside. The inside carried a stretcher, chemox air masks, fire extinguishers, salvage covers, protective clothing and many other small hand tools.

The unit was replaced sometime between 1959 and 1960 when the company purchased a 1947 Ford Rescue truck from Barren Hill, Pa. It is unknown what happened to the rig after that.