NEOLA, Iowa (AP) - Neola may be bidding farewell to a 1945-model firetruck that has been part of the small western Iowa community for decades.
The Neola Lions Club will auction off the truck Sunday to raise money for improvements at a local park, according to The Daily Nonpareil newspaper (https://bit.ly/1lbfatx ).
The K2 International truck has only 2,550 miles on it, in part because it’s hard to drive very far in the town of 800 people. The truck was kept in a one-bay garage.
“It’d go a block or two blocks to a fire,” said Lon Ring, who served on the Neola Fire and Rescue Department for 33 years.
The truck also was used for community activities such as a Christmas event, when Santa would climb aboard to make rounds through town.
“It was a pretty big deal,” said Ring, 68, who recalled the truck as a boy growing up in Neola. “Every Christmas you wanted to see Santa because he had a bag of candy for you.”
The truck has a 6-cylinder flat head motor and still runs. Even the crank siren still can wail.
Neola bought a new firetruck in the mid-1950s and over the years regularly updated the fire and rescue department’s vehicles. The old truck mostly gathered dust in the former fire hall until the town gave it to the Lions Club to help raise money for the park project.
“The City Council is proud of the citizens for taking on this project,” said Councilman Peter Sorenson. “That’s the reason we gave them this truck - to support them.”
Some residents hope a local buyer will surface to keep the truck in town.
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Information from: The Daily Nonpareil, https://www.nonpareilonline.com
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