As a youngster in Bay City, Texas, Don was a part of the volunteer fire department since my dad was a member of the department. He has been a member of the department for 60 years and served as Chief from 1956 to 1986. While in high school, Don worked Saturdays at the fire station answering the emergency phone, dispatching fire calls, cleaning the building and equipment and maintaining the trucks. Being interested in trucks in general, he learned to drive and operate all of the apparatus and helped build a 4WD Dodge pickup based grass firefighting rig.

Early in 1994, Don and his dad had the opportunity to purchase one of the trucks that was in service. It is a 1946 Seagrave open cab pumper that was in service from 1946 until the late 70’s. This particular truck is a Model 66EB, Serial #C8385 and was completed May 15, 1946. Don drove and operated this truck while working at the fire station during his high school days. In 1946, Don's dad assisted with the unloading of the truck from the rail car it was shipped in from the factory in Columbus, Ohio. It was the fire department’s second out truck until a new pumper was purchased in 1958.

The truck was retired by the fire department in the late 70’s and placed in city storage. In the mid 80’s Don's dad, while Chief of the fire department, arranged for the city to donate the truck to the county for use by one of the smaller communities in the county. They later determined the truck was never been placed in service by the community due to brake and ignition problems which, due to the age of the truck and lack of readily available parts, were deemed to be too difficult to remedy.

After purchasing the truck, Don and his father arranged to have it towed to Bay City.

Their inspection revealed the truck was in good overall condition and had some firefighting equipment with it. The speedometer was damaged, but indicated the truck may have accumulated only 3,800 miles during its lifetime. They found the engine is a 462 cubic inch, 202 horsepower, 12-cylinder "V" design gasoline engine of the now defunct Pierce-Arrow company’s design. It has dual ignition with two coils and two sets of points for each distributor. The fire pump has a pumping capacity of 750 gallons of water per minute. The truck has a 150 gallon water tank and capacity for about 2,500 feet of 2-1/2" and 1-1/2" hose along with a rear mounted preconnected hose reel for ¾" rubber hose.

The tires were in fair condition and the body had very light rust and a few very minor dents. The siren and all of the lights operated including the front warning lights. The instrument clusters were in need of restoration and some of the switches required replacement.

Anxious to get the engine running, they checked the fuel system and found water in the fuel lines. Don removed and cleaned the fuel filter and both of the carburetors. Don and his father also determined the engine was stuck and could not be turned with the starter. A pipe wrench with a long pipe handle applied to the drive shaft freed the engine and the starter then turned the engine.

Later they found two intake valves were stuck and they freed them after removing one of the cylinder heads and the valve covers. The engine was clean inside and all the visible components such as the cam shaft and cylinder walls looked good. One of the valve lifters was broken due to one of the stuck valves. Work continued on Saturdays when Don drove from Houston to Bay City. Don's father also worked on the truck during the week.

"We drove the truck for the first time about five weeks after we started the restoration. It ran extremely well except for bearing noise and vibration from the pump and drive shaft areas. The pump transmission and driveline assemblies were disassembled, a major task, and the six bearings were replaced to remedy the vibration problem. We later connected the pump to a fire hydrant and ran it to check its operation. The engine and pump operated well with only minor water leaks that were easily corrected. We have also drafted water from local water sources, lakes and streams, and found the pump operated well at draft. The truck should still pump near its 750 GPM rated capacity", Don said.

Don still obtains the original sales specifications, factory pictures, factory production line sheets, delivery documents and a maintenance and operation manual.

The truck was repainted and re-striped based on the original factory photographs, chrome parts re-chromed, polished parts polished and other miscellaneous repairs made.

" We decided to letter the truck doors with "HOLY SMOKE ENGINE CO." and the motto "In God We Trust" under a simulated "BCFD" logo," Don stated.  The majority of the restoration work was completed by October 1, 1994. The truck is a real showpiece with great historical value to my wife and me and my parents. We enjoy driving the Seagrave in parades, antique vehicle tours and displaying it at fire musters. We make it available for church activities, charitable activities, antique vehicle shows, movies and other shows and activities in the area," said Don.