Past Apparatus – “TOWER 71” where is it now ?

As the Upper Makefield Fire Company approaches its 50th birthday next year, thanks to social media we were able to find the location of a past piece of apparatus that served Upper Makefield Township.  In 1966 members of the Upper Makefield Business Men’s Association gathered together and saw the need for a Fire Company in Upper Makefield Township.  At that time the area was covered by Newtown Fire Assoc. from the west, Yardley Fire Company from the South, Lingohocken Fire Company from the North West and New Hope Eagle from the North.  In 1967, the Upper Makefield Fire Company was officially Chartered and still stands as the youngest chartered Fire Company in Bucks County.  As a fledgling Fire Company money was very tight, the members did a lot of the work themselves to build the 1st firehouse.  They fabricated one of the tanker trucks themselves, working on it every night and weekends till it was finished.  The 1st 12 pieces of apparatus that the company purchased over the first 18 years were used pieces of apparatus, some were purchase with their own money. 

In 1985, UMFC purchased its first NEW piece of apparatus from scratch.  A Grumman Duplex Tele Squrt arrived and the company was so excited to have this wonderful Brand New Apparatus.  TOWER 71 was placed in-service and served the residents of Upper Makefield and the surrounding communities until 2005.  It was sold to a dealer and last we knew it was doing work for an Environmental Company in the South West part of the United States.  Then on 9/16/16 we received a direct message on our Facebook Page from a Fire Department in Buenaventura, Chihuahua, Mexico stating they had TOWER 71 and it was their primary piece of Fire Apparatus.  They sent some pictures and said it was catching a lot of fire in Mexico, and that it was starting to have a couple of mechanical problems but for a 31 year old truck it was still running good.  As you will see, It is still Green and it still has our name on it.  Below are a couple of pictures from when the vehicle was brand new, when it was in-service in Upper Makefield, and now running in Mexico.