ENGINE 71

  The 1941 Ford was purchased new by the West Peoria Fire Protection District, which was founded after a special election in 1939. The fire truck was manufactured by Howe Fire Apparatus Co. out of Anderson, IN and delivered to WPFD in January of 1941. It had a 200 gallon water tank and 500 gpm Waterous pump.  After WPFD purchased a replacement fire truck in 1963, it was sold to Spring Bay Fire Department. 

The first kids day in 1955, the '41 Ford provides the ever popular fire truck rides.

May 8, 2014, West Peoria Fire Department's original engine returned back to to the fire district after 51 years.  The 1941 Ford was purchased new by the West Peoria Fire Protection District, which was founded after a special election in 1939. The fire truck was manufactured by Howe Fire Apparatus Co. out of Anderson, IN and delivered to WPFD in January of 1941.  After WPFD purchased a replacement fire truck in 1963, it was sold to Spring Bay Fire Department, who used it until 1973. The fire engine was then sold to the Mohammed Shriners who owned it until 2010.  A Dunlap man owned the truck for three years, selling it to a party who began to disassemble the truck over the winter of 2013, as all he wanted was the cab and was going to sell the rest of it on Ebay and for scrap. Fortunately, Captain Dan Kerns was able to talk him into selling the truck to the West Peoria Firefighter's Association, but unfortunately, he had already sold the engine out of apparatus.  The WPFD Firefighter's Association plans on restoring the fire engine to running/pumping condition.  Kerns had been looking for this engine on and off for 25 years--no one knew where it went after Spring Bay owned it.

1963 Ford replaced the 1941 Ford becoming the second engine to carry 1071 number. Manufactured by the Howe Fire Apparatus Co. out of Anderson, IN, the truck had a 500 gallon tank and a 750 gpm Waterous pump. The cab held three  fireghters and was sold to a  fire department in southern Illinois upon replacement in 1990. 

Engine 71 in the Fourth of July parade.

Engine 71

West Peoria took possession of a Pierce Dash in October of 1990. The $128,000 vehicle is powered by a Caterpillar 3208T engine and Allison automatic transmission. The engine has a 750 gallon tank and a 1,000 gpm Waterous pump. The truck was manufactured by Pierce Fire Manufacturing Company, in Appleton, Wisconsin and carries Seven  fireghters. 

More to come

More to come

more to come

more to come

more to come