“Brutus” Sold: Ashland sells 1958/93 fire truck to Shenandoah museum
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SENTINEL FILE PHOTO - The 1958/93 American LaFrance ladder truck sold by the borough of Ashland to the Schuylkill Historical Fire Society.
By Kaylee Lindenmuth
ASHLAND – A fire truck which served the borough for 58 years has a new home, among a fleet of classic fire apparatus preserved by a northern Schuylkill County organization.
The truck, nicknamed “Brutus,” was sold at Wednesday’s meeting of Ashland Borough Council, held at the borough hall/anthracite museum, for a sum of $1234.56 to the Schuylkill Historical Fire Society, 105 South Jardin Street, Shenandoah. It was the only bid for the truck.
“I’d like to make a motion to accept that bid, because they’re going to take care of that truck, and it’ll be on display up there,” said councilman Adam Bernodin Jr. “They have a beautiful setup up there, and I think it’d be nice to keep our truck active.”
The vote to sell the truck was unanimous.
“It’ll be kept the way you see it,” said a representative of the fire society.
“A lot of townspeople are going to be very pleased,” said councilwoman Kim McIntyre.
The fire truck served the borough of Ashland until the Washington Fire Company acquired a 1993 ladder truck which was placed into service in 2017.
“I’d like to thank the council for accepting our bid on the fire truck,” said Joseph “Blackie” Kufrovich, Fleet Management Supervisor at the fire society. “I talked to young Adam, and that would’ve been criminal to have that thing put in a scrapyard or out in the country. As I look around this beautiful museum that you have, I can appreciate that you people actually are involved in the preservation of history.”
Kufrovich continued on to invite the public to visit the fire society to see the truck.
“We just want to invite anybody, anytime you’re going through Shenandoah, 105 South Jardin Street, come and see what we have,” Kufrovich added. “It’s an old firehouse, the first one that was built in Shenandoah. It was the Columbia, built in the center of the community, and we have a lot to offer history-wise. Again, I want to thank you for accepting our bid.”
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