Historic 1926 Fire Engine Returns to Vincennes

VINCENNES, Ind. (We Are Knox County) -  A piece of Vincennes history has returned home.

Inside the Vincennes City Fire Department sits a 1926 Ahrens Fox fire engine — a truck that once responded to emergencies across the city nearly a century ago.

The engine was purchased by the Vincennes Fire Department in June 1926.

“It was here for roughly 40-plus years,” said Vincennes Fire Department Training Division Chief Jeff Latta.

Latta says the engine was stationed at different firehouses before it was eventually sold in the 1970s to a private collector.

https://youtu.be/Hsnv6wSmIm0

After leaving Vincennes, the fire engine’s journey continued across the country.

According to Latta, it made its way through northern Indiana, Michigan and Montana before eventually ending up in California.

The truck’s story took an unexpected turn last year when Latta was researching the history of the fire department and found an online posting for a 1926 Vincennes fire engine.

“I expected to see that it would say Vincennes in a different state, even possibly a different country,” Latta said.

“But it actually did state this engine was originally owned in 1926 by the Vincennes Fire Department.”

Latta reached out to the company that had posted the listing and was eventually connected with the engine's owner.

The two began discussing the possibility of bringing the engine back to the community it once served.

With help from the Vincennes Firefighters Union Local 664, that idea became a reality.

“It’s part of our history,” said Vincennes firefighter and Local 664 Union President Stephen Hensley.

After spending decades away from Vincennes, the engine made the nearly two-day journey back from California last week inside an enclosed trailer.

For Hensley, seeing the truck return was a special moment.

“I thought it was just amazing just to see it,” Hensley said.

“Not often you see a truck this old in this good of a condition.”

Over the years, the fire engine has gone through restoration efforts, including work done in the 1970s and again in 2001.

Today, it still displays the words “Vincennes Fire Department” on each side and features many of its historic details, including ladders, hoses, lanterns, fire extinguishers and a water pump.

While the engine is no longer used to respond to fires, Latta says it still runs and remains drivable.

For current firefighters, the engine offers a chance to look back at how far the profession has come.

“To have this truck back one last time, it’s just great, especially for the guys here at the fire department to really see what it took to be a firefighter 100 years ago and a lot of the things we take for granted today on our trucks that they didn’t have back then,” Latta said.

The historic engine will be on display during Vincennes’ annual Fourth of July parade on Saturday, July 4 at 6 p.m., before returning to California.