CT Station Welcomes Back 1915 'Fire Truck'

TAFTVILLE, CT—After 47 years and a lot of trying, a piece of the Taftville Fire Co. #2's history is back in the village's fire station.

Inside an equipment room at the Providence Street facility, a few feet away from shiny modern ladder and other emergency trucks, sits a 1915 Cadillac touring car that was transformed a century ago by Ponemah Mill workers into a working fire truck.

"Having this back with us means a lot," Capt. Scott Boenig said. "It's the result of a lot of hard work and a lot of pride."

The "truck" for years was displayed at the Manchester-based Connecticut Firemen's Historical Society but returned to its hometown earlier this month after years of inquiries by Boenig, a 10-year veteran of the department generations of his family volunteered at.

The car was originally donated to the mill's fire department, Engine Co. #1, 102 years ago by one of the former mill owner's presidents after fires sprang up in the sprawling mill town at the time.

"Those mill workers fabricated the changes and turned it into a chemical engine," Boenig said. "They removed the roof and back seats, added spaces for soda ash and water containers and painted the vehicle. It's still in pretty good shape. I remember seeing pictures of it and hearing stories about this vehicle."

The Taftville department acquired the car in 1958 for $1 as mill owners were in the process of selling its assets, Chief Timothy Jencks said. The vehicle was hauled out occasionally for parades but finally sold off in 1972.

"Some younger firefighter guys back then wanted $40 for a can of varnish to re-do the rims and lost interest when they were told they couldn't," Jencks said. "So it was sold to an individual from Redding."

The vehicle made sporadic appearances back in Taftville over the next several decades as a parade piece during various town and fire department anniversary events before returing back to the museum.

Four years ago, Boenig began reaching out to fire museum officials to gauge their interest in selling the car back to the department. At one point, museum officials offered to enter a 10-year lease agreement in which the department could make repairs to the car.

"But then we would have had to return the vehicle, even if we spent a large amount of money on the work," Boenig said. "We'd end up getting nothing, so we said no."

But earlier this year, Boenig found a more receptive audience for his pitch as the fire museum looked for ways to save space.

"The deal was they'd have first dibs to get it back if we don't do anything with the car," he said. "They actually gave us $200 when we took the vehicle."

The vehicle, its faded red paint still emblazoned with the Ponemah Mills name on the hood, is a creature of its time. A hand-crank protrudes from its grill near a folding hood. Large tanks hook into a complicated valve system (We're still figuring that out," Jencks said) that sits near a narrow wooden ladder and a pair of original axes affixed to the rear bed right above leather straps that held extinguishers.

"You can see the brush strokes from when it was first painted by the mill workers, the art work they added," he said.

Jencks said his department will figure out over the winter the best way to restore the car.

"We need to look at the financials, the fundraising and sponsorships we'll need to get it where it needs to be," he said. "Then we'll reach out to restoration people to see about parts. We have a lot of talent right here in the department, but the scope of the work is going to require outside help. For us, this is about preserving our past and that of the town. And restoring it honors those that came before us."

For Boenig, who showed off a sepia-toned picture of his grandfather and former department chief, Raymond Boenig Sr, sitting behind the wheel of the car, the work and phone calls paid off.

"I didn't want to take no for an answer," he said.

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