By Nathan Willison
LNP
NEW HOLLAND, Pa. — Plans for a Lancaster County business to fully restore a fire truck damaged on 9/11 have stalled due to a lack of funding.
North Carolina firefighter Paul Madeiros wanted to have the ladder truck and another fire truck from the same Fire Department of New York firehouse restored in time to include in a memorial FDNY is holding Sept. 9 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks.
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Madeiros said those plans have changed and for now he plans to keep both fire trucks from the Great Jones Street firehouse in Lower Manhattan, New York, at a Virginia museum.
Firefighters at the Great Jones Street firehouse were in the midst of a shift change on Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists attacked the World Trade Center. By the end of the day, 10 of the 14 firefighters from the station that houses Ladder Company 9 and Engine 33 would be killed, and the cab of Ladder 9’s truck would be damaged by falling debris and set on fire.
Madeiros has been working to restore both fire trucks for years. The restoration of Engine 33 is complete.
“It’s unfortunate, but it just didn’t work out,” said John Bredbetter, a service technician at 10-8 Emergency Vehicle Service, a New Holland company that sells, repairs, and customizes emergency vehicles. “It’s an awesome project and we would have loved to do a full restoration.”
Ladder Truck 9 ended up at 10-8 in September 2025 after previously spending months out in the elements on a property in New Holland.
Madeiros retrieved the ladder truck in July, and both fire trucks are at the Virginia Fire Museum in Henry County, Virginia.
Expensive repairs
Bredbetter said technicians at 10-8 were able to repair the ladder truck’s engine and get it running again but needed funds from Madeiros to complete expensive work on the truck’s exterior and repair its aerial ladder. Bredbetter, who estimated repairing the truck will cost more than $1 million, said the company ultimately had to focus on other projects.
Madeiros acknowledged that he’s had difficulty funding the project. When the restoration project was announced in January, Madeiros said he was flooded with interest; however, some promised donations ultimately fell through and interest waned over time.
Having already put well over $22,000 in his own money into the project, Madeiros said he can no longer afford to fund the project on his own.
Madeiros said he was grateful for the work 10-8 was able to complete.
“Just getting it up and running was a lot of help,” Madeiros said. “Without that, it might still be sitting in a field. They worked on what they could and ultimately their business had to take precedence — I get it completely.”
Once Ladder 9 is restored, Madeiros said he wants to use both fire trucks as a “traveling museum” that can be brought to events across the country, including New York City . Engine 33 has already appeared at events from North Carolina to Pennsylvania, Madeiros said.
“We’re still trying to get them up there,” Madeiros said of taking the fire trucks back to Great Jones Street firehouse in Lower Manhattan. “That’s ultimately what it’s all been about.”
For now, Madeiros said anyone interested in donating or learning more about the restoration project can contact the Virginia Fire Museum.
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