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About the Owner
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About the Owner
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 There
are many reasons for buying old fire engines
here is mine.
Down here in sunny Devon we have lots of small
fire stations manned by retained firefighters,
we also have 1 station crewed by volunteers, it
just happens that this station has played a
major part in my life.
Mervin Freeman
My father, Viv,
joined the crew in 1958 and the station was at the bottom of our garden! I was
born in 1963 and by the age of 3 was a regular visitor at the station, Sunday mornings
were spent polishing the Austin PHRT that was stationed here.
Several of the
crew lived in our street and I soon became used to the sound of running feet
and the whistling of the Lf who ran past the houses shouting “FIRE” to raise
the crew during the night hours (this was back in the days when a siren was
used to summon the crew but was not used after 10 at night so as not to wake
the children!) And always wanted to know
what the shout had been. The old Austin
was replaced in 1970 by OUO 73 a Dennis F8 water tender, a true classic fire
engine built in 1953 and operational for 24 years until it was sold in 1977.
Many other
vehicles have followed since, and inevitably myself in fathers footsteps, (I
was promoted to Lf in charge on his retirement in December 1992 to save
changing the entry in the phone book!) and am now Sub O in charge, yes we are
still voluntary and currently run a unique Mercedes 4x4 pump built at the
brigades Plymouth workshops.
Mervin Freeman
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