By Erik Anderson
The Frederick News-Post
MOUNT AIRY, Md. — Dozens of pieces of firefighting equipment from different eras were on display at the Mount Airy Volunteer Fire Company on Saturday to celebrate the company’s 100th anniversary.
Many different fire companies and private collectors brought their trucks out for “The Fire Apparatus Muster.” The day included pumping demonstrations, a junior firefighter competition, a raffle, food, and a fire truck judging contest.
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Anthony Russo, the company’s chief, said his team is especially proud of still having the first fire engine it started with in 1926.
Designated Engine 1, the American LaFrance was purchased for $8,325 a few months after the fire company formed. The truck served the fire company until 1958.
It had an initial restoration in 1964 by the Mount Airy Junior Fire Company, then a professional restoration by the Swab Wagon Company that started in 2015 and took nearly three years.
Over the decades, the truck has appeared in parades and other special events around the state. In 1980, the University of Maryland selected it to appear on one of its commemorative mugs.
Russo said it’s fitting that the company is about to get a new 2026 model fire engine almost exactly one century after its first.
“That’s pretty special to us to have the original engine from 1926 and get a new one that’s going to be a 2026,” he said. “We’re excited for that.”
The new engine will feature a low hose bed and a 1,000-gallon tank, and will be “more firefighter friendly,” Russo said.
Russo said Saturday is a day to think about how far the company has come. It started with a single bay in the building in downtown Mount Airy, which is now the home of The Upper Deck Sports Bar and Grill.
Today, the company has 75 active volunteers and the fire station has 12 bays, for two engines, a heavy walk-in rescue squad vehicle, a ladder truck, two ambulances, two chiefs cars, a utility truck, a brush truck, an ATV and a medic chase car.
“We’re just thankful for everyone, both our members and the community, that has gotten us to the point where we are today,” he said. “Hopefully, we’re here for another 100 years.”
Miranda Christiansen, 15, a student at South Carroll High School, won the day’s junior firefighting competition by donning her protective gear faster than her peers over multiple rounds. Her prize was a commemorative T-shirt.
She said she’s had a lot of practice managing her gear as a member of the Mount Airy Junior Fire Company since she was 12. Her dad is Mount Airy’s deputy chief and her mom leads the junior program.
“I’ve kind of grown up around it, so I’ve gotten really used to it, and it’s a career that I love, just helping people, and it’s just something I’d like to do in the future to help the community,” she said.
Christina Christiansen, Miranda’s mother, said the junior firefighter program currently has 21 members ages 12 through 16 who are trained in the basics such as pulling hose lines, flowing water and CPR.
When they turn 16, they can start earning the certifications they need to become full-fledged firefighters and EMTs, she said.
Following the juniors’ competition, a large crowd gathered to watch some of the firetrucks give pumping demonstrations.
First up was a 1923 Model-T truck built by the Waterous Company. Its owner, Frank Tremel, 85, of Owensville in Anne Arundel County, said that in its prime, the truck could pump about 350 gallons of water per minute.
He said he bought the truck about 20 years ago and has maintained it because he’s been in fire service for 70 years “and always been fascinated by the older stuff.”
Keeping it running takes “just some basic mechanical skills. They’re very simple,” he said of early fire trucks.
“You’ve got to remember that these things were built for and maintained by people who had never seen a gasoline engine before, so it’s extremely simple.”
His advice for anyone who buys antique firetrucks is to make sure their water systems are completely drained by winter and to not drive them fast.
Tremel said he likes to show off the truck and frequently takes it to events within about 75 miles of Annapolis.
“I get to see a lot of friends from the fire service and in the antique club,” he said. “We have a national organization of antique firetruck owners.”
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