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The American-La France fire engine, which was purchased new by the Paris fire department, has returned to its original home in Paris, thanks to the current fire department, the Henry County Historical Society, and interested citizens. This historic truck, which was sold by the city in 1955, but remained in the city for several years, was recently located in Portland, Oregon, and the owners were happy to have it come back to its former home.
Several people were sufficiently enthusiastic about the old fire truck to show up and welcome it on a chilly morning. The young man who drove the hauler that brought the engine across the country, reported that it had many admirers at every stop and that one person followed him for many miles to see it close-up at a rest stop. He said that another person even offered to buy the antique fire engine at whatever price he named. The driver appears in some of the photographs in an orange tee-shirt.
This slide show will display a few photos of the fire engine's arrival at the Paris fire station near the hospital show the truck and some of the people welcoming it. Since each photograph in the slide show will appear for about 8 seconds, if you wish to examine the fire engine longer and in more detail, you may use the links at the left. Although it is very difficult to see clearly since it is severely faded, the words Paris Fire Department still appear on the hood of the truck (slide #23 and slide #27). If you display each photo individually, you must use the back arrow on your browser to return to this page.
This video shows the antique engine being driven by the county historian -- lucky guy -- and unloaded under its own power.
Thanks to the Henry County historian for some of the information about the old fire engine. I hope I have given the data he shared correctly.
The photographers were John and Val Alexander, who give permission for the photos and video to be used or re-posted by anyone. We request that we be given credit (or blame).
