PHOTOS: When Jeannette fire Chief Bill Frye and Mark Scalzitti were junior firemen, they would jump on the back of a 1965 Mack fire engine to respond to calls.
Too young to drive it at the time, both have fond memories of getting suited up in the fire station and riding Engine 6 through town, the siren blaring. The engine spent the last 19 years with private collectors elsewhere in the state after the city sold it in 2001.
Now the old friend is back home.
And this time Frye and Scalzitti get to drive.
“I appreciate it for the history that it is, and I’m glad that people get to enjoy it now,” said Scalzitti, the proud owner of a vintage fire truck.
Engine 6 served the city for 21 years and, after that, it acted as a backup to a newer truck until it was sold to someone on the other side of the state, Frye said.
Then someone else near Carlisle bought it three years ago, Scalzitti said. When it was put up for sale recently, Scalzitti jumped at the chance.