Jim Vigna of Leechburg knows companies just do not make fire trucks like they used to anymore.
He is reminded of that fact whenever he tends to the borough volunteer fire company’s 1935 Seagrave.
The roughly 25-foot-long truck was acquired the year it was made in a Columbus, Ohio, factory, and it remained in service until 1969.
Hundreds of firefighters have sat in the two-person, open-cab leather driver’s seat, including Vigna, who joined the company in 1965.
He has a special connection to the truck
“I’m the only one left on the whole planet right now that actually drove that truck to fires,” he said. “Everybody else is dead. I’m 79 years old and got almost 57 years in this fire company. I’ve got memories with it. I’ve done a lot with that truck.”
It took him at least 10 years of continuous labor to refurbish the truck. He regularly checks and cleans it.
The current fire station along Canal Street is only about 20 years old. A previous station along Second Street had limited room for trucks.
“Once we had a place and brought it home again, I told the guys I’m going to work on this and see if we can get it back in shape that we can at least use it for funerals and parades and what not,” Vigna said. “It was in very bad shape. The front end was crashed. The back side was crashed. The tailgate was bent for being on the back of a wrecker (tow truck). It sat in garages for almost 30 years all over town, and it really took a toll on it with rust (and other weather damage).”
Its tires still use innertubes. The truck’s red and gold leaf paint is accented with tape.
Vigna said he used tape because a new paint job would cost thousands of dollars.
Most of the equipment on the truck is original. Some of the replacement pieces came from Wisconsin and other states.
There is no fuel pump, power steering or power anything as Vigna described.
Drivers would get a shoulder and back workout trying to steer the truck, and fuel would get to the six-cylinder engine via gravity.
“It takes some meat to go around the corners,” Vigna said.
Leechburg firefighter Jim Vigna revs up the 1935 Seagrave pic.twitter.com/UmSdULPApv
— Mike D. (@MikeJdiVittorio) November 2, 2021
Each cylinder has two sparkplugs. The engine also had an ignition magneto that provides current for the system.
Vigna likened it to a tractor engine, and it could be started with a crank if necessary. Its top speed is 40 mph.
“It would last forever if you took care of it,” he said. “I took almost every piece of this one at one time. This is very high-maintenance. Even your peddles and shafts and stuff have places where you have to get an oil can to grease them.”
There are two metal bars on each side of the cab on which a firefighter would hold on and ride. The rear transported about four firefighters. Some of the hose nozzles are brass with leather handles.
Most of its equipment has been deemed obsolete because of advancements in firefighting technology and safety standards.
Some tools, such as the carbon tetrachloride fire extinguishers, also were deemed unsafe because of being an absorption and inhalation hazard, Vigna said.
The Seagrave is equipped with pony and hard-suction hoses that need to be attached to a hydrant for adequate water supply. The truck only holds 100 gallons of water.
Vigna said its supply would last less than five minutes if connected to modern hose systems.
He learned the location of all 54 hydrants in the borough thanks in large part to former chief Stan Wolfe, who would have them check hydrants every summer until the water company told them to stop.
Vigna said those summer checks were instrumental in helping reduce response times.
“When they drop that skid load and said, ‘go,’ you had to know where to go because they weren’t going to get any water until you got up to the hydrant and got it hooked up,” Vigna said.
A wooden roof ladder and a collapsible wooden ladder rest on the right side of the truck.
Vigna said crews sometimes would use the collapsible ladder to break through an attic cubby hole to gain access. Most modern ladders are made of some type of metal.
The truck still is used in local parades and funerals with very rare trips outside of the borough.
Vigna said he would be willing to teach the younger generation how to take care of it, but so far there has been little to no interest in continuing his efforts.
Assistant fire Chief John Foster hopes to change that.
“As long as I belong to this fire company, this truck will never leave,” Foster said. “Jim’s done a phenomenal job of upkeeping it and restoring what he can. I’d like to see us put some time and effort and money into it to ensure it stays here for another 100 years.”
Leechburg’s station also houses a ladder truck, two engines, two water rescue boats, a service truck and a foam trailer for Armstrong County Region 13.
Seagrave history
Seagrave was founded in 1881 in Detroit by Fredric Seagrave.
It is the oldest manufacturer of fire equipmentin the United States. The company moved to Columbus, Ohio, in 1891, and remained there until 1963, when the company was purchased by FWD. At the time of the purchase, Seagrave moved all operations to Clintonville, Wisc., where it remains.
More information can be found at seagrave.com.
Michael DiVittorio is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Michael at 412-871-2367, [email protected] or via Twitter .
