SFA purchases old Southborough engine

Above: It isn’t ready to drive in any parades yet, but members of the Southborough Fire Department hope their old engine will be able to in the future. (contributed photo)

Old Engine 25 hasn’t put out fires in decades. But it’s a piece of Southborough history that the Southborough Firefighter’s Association is hoping to restore.

The Maxim Motors fire engine was built in 1968 and used by the Town until the late 1990s.

According to former firefighter John Kendall it was used to fight fires including helping protect Chelsea’s city hall during the Great Chelsea Fire.* The Town finally disposed of the engine by the early 2000s.

SFA was recently offered the opportunity to purchase E25 and bring it back to Southborough. Currently, it’s housed in one of the Public Safety Building’s fire dept bays.

According to Fire Chief Steven Achilles, the SFA still needs to evaluate its condition. They aren’t yet sure whether it can be restored to parade-quality condition, or how much that would cost.

Once they have more details, then they can assess the funding options for the preservation work. The SFA will also consider whether to donate the engine to put it under Town ownership.

If they are able to restore it, it could be used in community outreach/educational events like the Heritage Day Parade, at Southborough Summer Nights, school events, and visits to the schools. 

I asked Chief Achilles about the capacity for storing an item that isn’t a working emergency vehicle. He reminded that the building was designed to serve as the Town’s sole fire station for 50-70 years. Since the garage was designed with doors on both the front and back of the building, vehicles can exit quickly without anything needing to be repositioned.

The garage currently also houses the Town’s antique pumper truck from 1868. (The photo right was posted on Facebook showing the pumper on display at this year’s Firefighters Memorial Sunday service held at the station in June.) You can read more about that piece of equipment here.

Achilles hopes E25 can be restored in time for Southborough’s 2027 Tricentennial. Stay tuned for a future update.

*According to Wikipedia, in October 1973 a fire in Chelsea “engulfed 18 city blocks” within two hours. Within 5 hours, 1,200 firefighters from 111 fire departments responded to the call for assistance.