By Jack Minch
The Lowell Sun
SHIRLEY, Mass. — The Fire Department is still using a 1952 Studebaker that is a veteran of the Korean War to fight brush fires, according to Fire Capt. Joe Hawthorne.
The department also has a 1987 Chevrolet pickup truck converted to fight brush fires.
The department added a second used pickup to its fleet about three weeks ago that it plans to convert to a brush truck — and which could finally replace the Studebaker.
The state Department of Conservation and Recreation got the truck from the federal excess-property program and gave it to Shirley free of charge, Hawthorne said.
“It’s a good reuse of older vehicles,” Hawthorne said yesterday.
The truck is a 1986 Chevrolet with a diesel engine that runs well, firefighter Troy Cooley said.
It still has a camouflage paint job from its days serving the Army.
“State Forestry guys just showed up one day and dropped it off,” Hawthorne said.
Eventually, it will be painted red and white.
The department will eventually add a water tank, pump and a 1 1/8-inch hose when it has the money — probably be after the new fiscal year starts on July 1, Hawthorne said.
“It’s smaller and lighter and easier to drag through the woods,” Hawthorne said of the hose.
Brush trucks go where pumper engines can’t, Hawthorne said.
Other than the bed, the truck will remain stock, Cooley said.
“We’re not going to raise it up or anything,” he said.
Brush fires are any fire in the woods, Hawthorne said. Other parts of the country call them forest fires.
The Studebaker has a long history with the town, Hawthorne said. Its chassis has a high clearance, and the cab has a Spartan interior.
Unlike the other trucks, it has a standard transmission, which fewer firefighters know how to drive, he said.
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