Engine 40 arrives, Engine 60 is donated
By Bob Bunmcrot

A Big Wet-Down: Norfolk’s new Engine 40 gets a traditional soaking from fellow firefighters during a welcoming ceremony on Shepard Road.

The Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department (NVFD) is proceeding smoothly with training on its new Engine 40. The Seagrave engine was delivered in early July, having been inspected and tested at its manufacturing site in Wisconsin by Chief Daryl Byrne, Matt Ludwig, Matthew Bell and Jody Zeller. “We’re still learning about it,” says Byrne. “But everything looks fine so far.” The Department worked with a representative of the engine maker at a lengthy session last month, practicing with the water and foam systems. Meanwhile, the old engine, a 1976 Oren, which logged more than 26,000 miles during its tenure, is currently stored in the Town garage. The engine is awaiting shipment to the fire department on the Carribean Island of Roatan, about fifty miles off the coast of Honduras. The donation has been arranged with the help of the International Fire Relief Mission (IFRM), a nonprofit organization of firefighters who recycle old equipment for use in developing nations. Last month, an unexpected delay occurred when the president of Honduras was deposed in a coup. Ted Briggs, who, with his wife Sally, visited Roatan while he was Ambassador to Honduras in the late 1980s, says that the island has become a popular resort for snorkelers and scuba divers, ever since direct air service from the US was established in the 1990s. “The natives speak a kind of seventeenth-century pirate English,” says Briggs. “They refer to the people on the mainland as ‘the Spanish’.” This was noticed by Chief Byrne when he recently called the island. “I thought I would have to try to speak in Spanish,” says Byrne, “but they all spoke English, with an accent.” Several NVFD members are considering a trip to the island to help familiarize the new owners with the engine. They would have to pay their own airfare, but other expenses would be covered by the IFRM.