Kirk Trekell 1917 Chemical Engine
The engine was purchased by the City of Alva Oklahoma in 1917 and the Seagrave was Alva's first motorized fire truck. In 1944 the Seagrave was placed into reserve status because the city purchased a new more modern Seagrave. The engine although remained available for fire duty until the 1950's.
Kirk became a member of the Alva Fire Dept. in 1986 as a volunteer. In July of 1995 Kirk was sworn in as a uniformed firefighter. Since then Kirk has been enthusiastically pursuing the purchase of this 1917 Seagrave.
Sometime in the 1960's the Seagrave was sold to the local V.F.W. Post. Fortunately for Kirk the V.F. W. Post kept ownership until Kirk purchased it from them on June 10th. of this year. Kirk remembers the V.F.W. Post hinting around about selling the Seagrave on E-bay and recalls his desperate attempts to convince them on letting him purchase the engine and keep it in Alva.
"I shuddered with the thought of it leaving town after all these years. One evening my wife came to the station and told me she had received a call from a V.F.W. member telling her they had just met and voted unanimously to accept my offer and if I still wanted the truck to pick it up and pay for it. I Did!"
The Seagrave has had a long history and has scene many spectacular fires. It's pictured in a local mural at a notorious fire in 1935 on the campus of Northwestern Normal School ( Now Northwestern Oklahoma State University).
Another
fire the old Seagrave
and her crew battle was the Monfort Drug Store fire in the late 40's
on Alva's downtown square.
Still very much together. Notice the artillery wheels and chain drive. The chemical tank still secured to its mounts.
Even though it's painted three different colors, the engine still looks proud and historic.
Kirk is just starting the restoration process and would like anyone with information on Seagrave chemical engines to drop him an e-mail.
Kirk will be keeping us updated as the project proceeds.
The Alva Fire Dept. was established in 1902 and is 100 yrs. old this year.
There's a lot more information on Alva's Fire Dept. on the Fire Dept. Web
site at
http://www.alvaok.net/alvafd/index1.htm
Kirk has been working feverishly over the last few months on his 1917 Seagrave chemical engine. Thanks to Ken Soderbeck of Jackson, MI (supplied Kirk with an extremely hard to find water pump) and Kirk's hard work the engine once again roared to life.
The most astonishing event however was finding the original paint and gold leafing under layers of latex paint put on by the V.F.W. With a small razor blade and a lot of patience Kirk began to reveal the incredible art work. The original paint is in such good shape that Kirk is strongly debating on whether or not to let the original paint remain.
Kirk has promised to keep us all up to date on his progress with the old Seagrave with photo's and stories.
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