Rekindle

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I don’t do it often but I want to revisit a post from my past. I have a lot of new followers / fans who may not have been around in the early days and believe it or not … sometimes I actually managed to get up some cool posts….LOL

I’m back on duty today and we have a fill-in. We had an overtime person for 1/2 the shift but tonight we got a transfer from the South Side.

I was happy to see Adam Fleming (or “Snowbird” as I so affectionately call him) walk into the house this evening.

Snowbird and I go way back. We were assigned together at Station #6 back in 1997 just after I made Lieutenant.

Station #6 was not only a busy house (and still is) but it also held a lot of family memories for me as my dad spent the majority of his career there.

Needless to say, Snowbird and I seen a lot of work together but we also had just as much fun. We became good friends.

Fast forward to the year 2011 and I got a very cool phone call from him.

He was telling me about this “bar” he had built for his basement. Of course he knows how much I enjoy a “tall tottie” or an ice cold Old Milwaukee so he figured I should have one (or twelve) at his place just for “old time sake”.

What he described over the phone didn’t touch what I found when I got to his house that day.

WOW!!! I was speechless! He had taken an actual fire truck and made it into a BAR!!! This thing was amazing!

I’ve drank at some very fancy places. I’ve also had a few at some dumps but this bar ranks right up there with the coolest ever. Almost every piece he used was salvaged from a 1988 Pierce Arrow.

The rig came from the Orange, NJ Fire Department. I wrote a little about the rig and Snowbird’s plans in a the post linked below …..

A HELMET TIP TO OUR “NORTHERN” BRETHERN…

You have to see this thing to believe it!

Snowbird and a few friends went all out and their time, labor and efforts are evident.

He kept the front wheels and tires on it (YES … those are actual wheels and tires).

The water faucet for the sink is one of the 2 1/2″ discharges from the rig.

The coasters behind the bar are the actual pump gauges. His attention to detail was amazing. I wrote a little more about it in another post  …..

 Read “Yankee Ingenuity” click HERE 

Starting to see what I mean? Well tonight, we were talking about the bar and he tells me one of the guys who helped him build it has some MUCH BETTER PHOTOS.

His friend Joe Amato lives in our area and was a huge help in the bar’s construction (along with Robert Shumate). Joe is also originally from up on the other side of the Mason – Dixon line but now lives in our area and serves as a volunteer for a local Fire / Rescue Department. Use this link below to see more than 100 other photos of the bar from Joe’s Face Book page ….

Joe Amato’s Face Book Photo Album

And YES ….. all the lights and sirens work too! Here’s a video they used to win a contest through Pierce Mfg. asking folks to show them their “cab”.

So anyhow, I just wanted to revisit an older topic and post that I thought you may enjoy. I hope you did.

Since I directed you to Face Book in the post, while you’re there be sure to like and follow Ironfiremen.com as well. We finally passed the 13,000 “like” mark last week!!! WoooHooo!

Follow Ironfiremen.com on Face Book here

I have a big event to attend in the morning and will try to get some pictures up asap. Until I do get back to ya … stay SAFE and in House!

Captain Wines