Feb 27, 2009 7:33 pm US/Eastern
Local Firefighter Taps Into Fire Truck's History
SOUTHWEST RANCHES (CBS4) ―
-
-
A current view of a Chicago Fire Insurance Patrol Truck bought by Miami-Dade Fire Lieutenant Keith Seafield
Keith Seafield/CBS
-
-
This Chicago Fire Insurance Patrol Truck was used in the late 1950's and bought by local fire department lieutenant Keith Seafield
Keith Seafield/CBS
Ron Direnzo stepped back in time 50 years Friday. All thanks to Miami-Dade Fire Lieutenant Keith Seafield.
The two men are separated in age by nearly 40 years but they are bonded by the Chicago Fire Insurance Patrol and on old fire truck.
Ron Direnzo worked for the Patrol in the mid-50's. One of his captains was Michael Kinsch, Seafield's grandfather.
Seafield bought one of the patrol's old units -- #5 -- and Friday he gave Direnzo a chance to sit in the driver's seat one more time.
"It's really something. looking at this thing and I drove this thing over 50 years ago," Direnzo said. "My God, we went to a lot of fires, lot of time behind the wheel, responding to fires."
The Chicago Fire Insurance Patrol operated in the late 1800's to 1959. Insurance companies pooled money from customer's premiums to operate the insurance patrol, which worked to salvage property before it was destroyed by fire. The Patrol also assisted the Chicago Fire Department on calls.
Direnzo worked for the patrol for 6 years until it disbanded in 1959. He then served 30 years with the Chicago Fire Department, finishing his career as a battalion chief.
When Direnzo saw the truck for the first time in 50 years Friday, he said it took him straight back to his mid-20's.
"I remember it as it was," Direnzo said. "It was a beautiful rig, I mean shiny, just gorgeous."
The truck sits behind Seafield's mother's home in Southwest Ranches. Seafield bought the truck from the Fire Museum of Greater Chicago for $800. It was the only original fire truck still working.
He is working to restore it to it's original look.
The truck still has the original lights, interior and siren. The siren operates by friction caused when a fireman pulls on a rope inside the cab. Seafield plans to add a silver bell on front of the truck and the sheet metal plating covering the engine.
Seafield said it's a labor of love to restore this truck to it's original glory. But he feels a responsibility to his grandfather, Direnzo and the brotherhood of firefighters to bring a piece of history back to life.
"This is a connection to my grandfather who passed in 1975, when I was real small, so it's sort of a tangible link to him," Seafield said.
Seafield even wrote a book about the history of the Chicago Fire Insurance Patrol and that's how he met Direnzo. The 79-year-old contributed stories and pictures to the book and the two men developed a bond.
A bond solidified when Seafield let Direnzo hop in the front seat for another turn at the wheel.
"I wanted him to get a chance to drive it again," he said. "It's not too often that a guy gets a chance to be reunited with his fire truck after 50 years. It's a neat story."
The stories of old fires and old friends flowed out of Ron Direnzo Friday. But nothing gave him the thrill of sitting inside the cab one more time.
"He's given me an excellent look into the past as far as i'm concerned," Direnzo said. "How many people can go way back to their youth and say this is what I did when. I've been behind that wheel many many miles."
Friday, he got to drive a few more.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Super Bowl Ad: Snickers & Betty White
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Broward Housing Values Take A Beating In '09 10 mins ago 
Stumble It!
Reporting
Comments