89 years after responding to its first call, this historic fire pumper truck will be returning to West Allis

Almost exactly 89 years after a Peter Pirsch & Sons fire pumper truck responded to its first emergency call for the West Allis Fire Department, the very same vehicle is now set to rejoin the ranks.

The department raised about $15,000 in 10 months to buy it back from a private collector and is preparing to use the old fire engine to enhance its educational and community outreach programs. The engine was decommissioned in 1972 before it spent decades in the hands of private collectors.

After receiving the blessing of the West Allis Common Council to proceed with the transaction, Fire Chief Mason Pooler hopes the old engine — currently stored in Kohler — will be back in a West Allis vehicle bay by Sept. 29, the anniversary of the engine’s first emergency call in 1930.

“It’s actually really good timing,” Pooler said. “It’s great.”

Pooler’s department set out to purchase the engine from a collector in Kohler in November 2018, starting a GoFundMe page in the process. The initial press that the effort received netted substantial donations at first, but support trailed off until two big donors came in towards the end.

Pooler said the West Allis Knights of Columbus provided $5,000, while the final $2,500 came from a resident who worked with the city’s emergency radio systems in the 1970s and 80s. The man remembered installing a radio into the same Pirsch engine before its decommission, Pooler said.

Now that it’s back in the fold, Pooler said he plans to use the Pirsch about a dozen times a year in parades, fundraisers and other educational events.

He said the engine can probably still pump and spray water, although it would likely have many leaks. Its maximum speed is 20 mph.

“The motor’s getting a little tired… so we’re not going to hop on I-94 with it or anything,” Pooler said.

Contact Elliot Hughes at elliot.hughes@jrn.com or 414-704-8958. Follow him on Twitter @elliothughes12.