Wait, you can buy a fire truck on Craigslist? GTFO!
I have a problem of looking at Craigslist too often. I look at cars, trucks, boats, atvs, casual encounters, you know, normal stuff. I just do it way too much. Whatever.
I was looking at Craigslist for a cheap diesel truck, because clearly that is what will make my life complete, when I come across an ad for a 1985 Seagrave Fire Truck.
Runs great, only has 60k miles or whatever, diesel, etc. $3500.
Immediately, the practical side of me says “you can’t have a fire truck, that’s ridiculous, people don’t just go buy fire trucks, you probably aren’t even allowed to own one.” Then the practical side of me says [yes I have two practical sides, I’m very practical] “You know it is a diesel, and a truck, and cheap – exactly what you are looking for. The fire truck part is just a bonus – win.” So I show the kids.
Come here kids, what do you think of this truck? Just like that, it’s 3 to 1. I mean, we haven’t told Kari yet, but I’m not even giving her the benefit of the doubt on this one, she is not going to be in favor of buying a fire truck. Whatever, I’m going to send them an email since they don’t have a phone number.
Hello, I’m interested in your fire truck on Craigslist and have a couple of questions. How fast will it go? Will it tow a trailer?
Then I talk to Kari “So I found this truck on Craigslist and I sent them an email about it. Hopefully they will reply so the kids and I can go look at it this week.”
“Ok, so what is it?” Kari replied, mostly curious as to why I’m even telling her. Usually I just go buy things, letting her find out when she comes home.
“It’s a fire truck!” I tell her with much enthusiasm “Won’t that be awesome?”
“What?” Kari
“Yea! Fire truck. It’s going to be f*****g awesome!” Me
“What do you think kids?” Me
“It’s going to be so cool, we’ll have our own fire truck” The kids agree.
“We are not getting a fire truck. You can’t have a fire truck, people don’t just go buy fire trucks. Are you even allowed to own one.” Says negative Nancy before I tune her out and start reading about the Seagrave brand, and how reliable Detroit Diesel 6v92 engines are, while thinking, she’s right – we aren’t getting one –I am, and it’s going to be bad ass.
After a couple of days with no response to my email I begin to wonder if they sold it already, or possibly didn’t take my basic, practical questions seriously. I could email them again I guess. Then I realized I could make out the Fire Department name on the door, so I looked up the number and called them. To my delight, it is still for sale, will go at least 55 mph and could probably pull a trailer. Great, we’ll come check it out tomorrow.
The kids and I head over to Kinloch Fire Department. It appeared as though most of Kinloch had already burnt down, so it made since that they didn’t need their fire truck anymore. When we got to the station, we learned that they actually bought a newer fire truck? I’m not sure what they are going to use it for, but it was nice.
The fire chief took the time to show us their new truck and the fire station. He told us about the history of the station and town, and about the musicians that used to play in the lower level of the station. It was pretty cool. Then he talked about their volunteers and showed us all of the donated jackets and equipment they receive from other departments around the country. The link below is an article about the town’s less than desirable current status.
The fire truck they were selling was getting too old, and it was dangerous. It was the last open cab fire truck still in service in St. Louis County. We learned that the open cab, (open to the rear of the truck) which seats one fireman on either side, is not a safe arrangement because the firemen would often stand on the sides instead of sitting down and fastening their seat belts. Naturally they would fall of if there was a crash or possibly even a large bump, and Kinloch has plenty of large bumps.
Now, the visit to the fire station so far would be a highlight of the kids week even if we left now, but we are here to see about buying this thing, so lets fire it on up and see if it runs. Showing us how to turn the thing on, the chief switched on the batteries, pushed down a T handle that opens the engines air intake, and pushed the starter button.
With barely a crank she fired right up. Since it is a fire truck they don’t have to worry about noise standards and all that wimpy crap, so it is pretty loud. We unanimously decided that the chief should take us on a test drive, considering that I haven’t driven anything larger than a pickup truck.
It was loud and bouncy, but with power steering and an automatic transmission, it shouldn’t be too difficult to drive. The chief pointed out that since the front wheels are actually behind you, on tight turns you might be hanging over the curb even though the front wheels are not. Neat.
When we got back to the station, I explained that I would offer him $2500, but because of their delicate financial situation, I was offering him $3,000. I know that even if the thing didn’t make it home, there is probably $3k worth of parts and scrap there. It turns out he had received another offer near but slightly less than that amount, but the potential buyer was just buying to scrap it and as such, he would rather sell it to us.
They didn’t have the title. When they purchased the truck from the Melhville Fire Department, no one ever got the title. A lost title had been applied for, but it could take a month to get. Fine. I’ll wait. We shook hands, went home and dreamed about our new fire truck.
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