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Timaru man Barry Campbell with his 1978 International fire engine and 1996 Ford ambulance which will go on display at the South Canterbury Traction Engine and Transport Museum.
Timaru fire engine enthusiast Barry Campbell got a bit more than he bargained for when he purchased a 43-year-old fire engine recently.
Campbell, a member of South Canterbury’s Traction Engine and Transport Museum, grew up around fire engines with his father regularly working on them – and this year when he saw one for sale he decided it was time to take action.
“I always wanted to own a fire truck.
“My father used to service and test drive the International fire trucks when I was young. So, I saw the fire truck online and decided to buy it because life’s too short.”
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Campbell
purchased the 1978 International fire engine in January, and has spent a lot of time and money preparing it for display.
“I got the truck off a volunteer firefighter from Clinton in January this year for $6000. Since then, I have spent $12,000 and counting on repairs.
“I spent nearly two hours just getting the bloody cobwebs in the truck out when I got it,’’ Campbell said.
“I’ve added new tyres, a new battery, new wiring, fresh paint and tools to the truck. The engine is a 6.4-litre International 392 V8 and has a 750 gallon Darley pump and a 1350 litre water tank.”
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Barry Campbell has spent $12,000 so far on renovating the truck and says there is still work left.
Campbell said he spent $800 on the day he got it to get it towed because it broke down on him when the fan belt broke and went through the radiator.
Campbell said fire engine began its working life in 1978 with New Zealand Aluminium Smelters at Tiwai Point, in Southland, and was used in its brigade for 22 years.
It was then sold to Otanomomo farms, in South Otago, where it was used to clean cow dung off the roads.
A firefighter, from Clinton, then purchased it and used it to compete in fire brigade competitions and transport firefighters to and from the competitions.
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Barry Campbell always wanted to own a fire truck.
“The volunteer firefighter decided to sell the truck as it was just too slow and costly to run, and I got it off him through TradeMe,” he said.
Campbell, who is a St John ambulance emergency medical technician, contacted the Smelter to find out more about the history of the fire truck – and got a lot more than he asked for.
They replied saying they also had a 1996 Ford Transit ambulance which they wanted to offer to him free of charge.
JOHN BISSET/Stuff
The dashboard area of the 1978 International fire engine bought by Barry Campbell.
“They were upgrading their ambulance, and they thought it would be nice to have their fire engine and the ambulance in the same place.”
“It’s run 55,000kms and has two York stretchers, an old chair and an old suction unit. Its runs okay and the lights and siren work too.”
JOHN BISSET/Stuff
NZAS offered the ambulance to Campbell because they were upgrading their fleet.
Campbell’s fire truck and ambulance will be displayed in the new 1400 square metre shed housing more than 40 trucks at the South Canterbury Traction Engine and Transport Museum at Levels .
Campbell’s machine will be the fourth fire-fighting related piece in the museum’s collection, and will sit alongside a Timaru snorkel fire truck, a 1991 Dennis fire truck and a 1951 Commer fire engine.
Campbell said the grand re-opening of the museum in November had been postponed until further notice because of Covid-19.
