Kevin Riordan: A Burlco town gets its old fire engine back

Volunteer firefighters in Burlington County who lost their century-old headquarters five years ago are regaining a different piece of the past.

The 1941 Ford truck that Franklin Fire Co. No. 1 sold in the 1970s and brought back home to Mansfield Township last year - after buying it on eBay - is being restored.

The venerable apparatus will be used in parades and for educating kids about fire safety.

"We were surprised it was still around," company president Doug Burgstrom says.

Members of the state's firefighter community alerted Franklin No. 1 to the availability of the truck, helped negotiate its purchase from a Florida businessman, and arranged for no-cost shipping.

The solid-looking vintage vehicle cost $3,900, slightly less than what Franklin No. 1 paid for it, brand-new, 72 years ago. The odometer reads 9,800, the Ford Flathead V8 engine runs, and the wooden ladders, draft hoses, and other equipment are intact.

But the truck needs work.

"Finding parts for a 1941 Ford is challenging," says Burgstrom, 48, a township resident who is also a full-time firefighter in Marlton.

Even in a firehouse full of skilled tinkerers, "finding people with expertise in the old technology is a challenge," he says.

"It's a tremendous foundation for restoration," says company member John Panacek, a retired Trenton fire battalion chief who negotiated with the seller.

He estimates that restoration will cost $20,000. The company hopes to raise $100,000, which would include the purchase of additional period equipment to display.

A beef-and-beer and other fund-raising efforts have brought in about $7,000, and more events are being planned for 2014.

The close-knit company was founded in 1860 and is the only firefighting organization in Mansfield. Some members have answered fire calls in this lush, slowly suburbanizing, 30-square-mile stretch of rural Burlington County for decades.

"Basically I've been around here since the day I was born," says Barry C. Rasmussen, 30, who heads the restoration committee and joined Franklin No. 1 at 16.

His father and brother-in-law are longtime members, and his mother and sister belong to the ladies' auxiliary.

"Cousins and other relatives are here, too," adds Rasmussen, a lifelong Columbus resident. "The company is like another family to me."

Franklin No. 11 moved from its 1910 firehouse in Columbus to Mansfield's spacious new municipal complex in 2008.

Members say space restraints at the old firehouse on New York Avenue may have contributed to the decision to sell the 1941 truck after new equipment replaced it.

But there's plenty of room at the new facility. And anyone who doubts the appeal of an antique fire truck should consider that hundreds of owners and fans of such vehicles are expected in Cherry Hill starting Wednesday for a national convention hosted by the Cradle of Liberty Antique Fire Apparatus Association.

"It's a big deal," says Bill Anderson, president of the Essington club (http://clafaa.org).

While the national convention will include spectacular pieces of equipment from as far away as Canada, the members of Franklin No. 1 are thrilled with their '41 Ford - and prospect of bringing it back to life.

"It's fantastic for the morale and the camaraderie," Burgstrom says. "It's something everybody can say, "I have a part of that.' "