This is our departments 1942 “Chevy/Oren” triple combination engine. The Engine started its life in the U.S. Air Force during WWII. The Engine would go onto serve in the U.S. Air force until 1955 when it was decommissioned and sold at surplus. Our past Fire Chief Andrew “Andy” Dares and Firefighter James (Jim) Clendenin drove to an Air Force base in Virginia to pick up the Engine and bring it home. The story goes that when they arrived at the Air Force base they were told where to find the truck that they were suppose to be getting. What they encountered was almost a hundred fire trucks waiting to be picked up by different organizations. After searching and finally arriving to the truck that they had purchased “sight unseen” they found an old beat down pumper that was in dyer needs of repairs and without any equipment on it. The two of them decided that they wanted something that was in better shape and that had some equipment on it, so what did they do? They just got in their car and drove up and down this Air Force base looking for the best truck they could find. What they found is the truck pictured today. They found this 1942 “Chevy/Oren” Pumper in great condition and fully loaded with equipment. They jumped in this truck and drove it back to Clendenin WV, With the Air Force non the wiser.

The department used this truck in front line service until 1985 when it was retired and sold to the Charleston Town Center Mall to be put on display. It spent the next two decades of its life there until it was purchased by a private collector and put in storage. In 2015 the private collector contacted our Chief and asked if we would be interested in buying the truck back, and with out hesitation he said yes. The truck was then delivered to our station where it underwent major renovations to get it running and driving again. Now in present time the truck has had a full restoration which took a few years to complete, and sits in our station as our pride and joy. We are very proud of how this truck has turned out and almost every member of the department has had a hand in fixing it.