By Steve Sears

Chris Finelli, Fire Chief of the Butler Volunteer Fire Department, has a hope.

“Maybe it’s a dream,” Finelli says, “but I’d love to have it ready by September 11th for the parade, for the candlelight walk we do.”

Finelli wants he and some of his fellow firefighters to ride on or walk with a decorated, respected vehicle. More than that, for the Butler Volunteer Fire Department, they’ll honor those who perished on September 11, 2001 while also honoring a truly respected member of its own family.

The aged but slowly-being-refurbished 1955 Ward LaFrance fire truck has served many purposes, and perhaps none more important than in 1957, when it was on the front line of fighting the major Pequanoc (Pequannock) Rubber Company weeklong fire. It was the only pumper the department had at that time, and for three days, it pumped water continuously prior to be shutting down for an oil change. After that, it pumped for another three days.

Yes, it was a battler, but also was solemn in heart, many times carrying deceased department members during funeral processions. It was because of these memories and others that the department decided to make the truck ‘live’ again. “After one of our chiefs passed,” Finelli explains, “it was determined that this would be the best way to resurrect it, make it part of our department again, so that we can use it. Let’s get our history back up and running.”

Finelli, 49, had never rode on the truck while it was in service to the community. It was retired after 21 years in 1976 when he was only three-years-old. “It stuck around the town for a little bit, until about 1977 or 1978, and then it went up to the Sussex County Fire Academy to the best of my knowledge,” Finelli says.” Until about 1990 or ’91, Sussex County kept it and then reached out to the department and asked if they wanted it.” Kinney Hose Fire Company 1 of Butler owned the truck privately, until the Butler Volunteer Fire Department took it over and did what restoration within its means it could. However, financially any restoration on the old truck was taking a toll.

Although it sat in the last parking space in the corner of the fire department’s Carey Avenue parking lot for a few years, the thought of and desire to refurbish it never died, and eventually last year was rekindled. Finelli provides a very brief timeline. “A couple of guys started working on it in July, and I got involved with it in August or September, somewhere in there.” The department attempted to restore the truck based on old photos that weren’t the best quality, so Finelli and team visited Facebook and Ward LaFrance pages, and found folks who were willing to help with advice, share clear photos, and provide missing parts that the truck needed. 

“It’s been a great, great experience for me personally, and I didn’t have any attachment to the truck,” Finelli says enthusiastically. “Now I have this huge attachment to it.”

Again, Finelli never fought a fire with the truck, but he’s on a mission. “Just by rebuilding it, I have a mission to it,” he says. “I know it sounds weird, but it’s like an addiction,” he says with a laugh. “I think to myself, ‘I’ve got to get this done. I want to see it!’ It’s part of us, and obviously, we can’t restore it. It’s just way too much money for us to restore. We’re going to rebuild it for what we are today and get it on the road. It’s roadworthy now, we’ve had it out quite a bit, and we’re currently rewiring it.”

The elderly Ward LaFrance truck no longer holds water, and its pump is inadequate, so residents will never see the 67-year-old truck pull up to battle a blaze. Still, it holds much importance in the borough, and for the department itself. It’s about generations, decades of memories. “It’s important to us; it’s our history,” Finelli says. “It’s a part of us. And one of the things in the fire department, and regarding any department you go to, is their strong tradition. It’s fathers and sons and grandfathers who are all part of that tradition, and it just builds and builds and builds.”