The 1965 FDNY Mack Super Pumper at the SPAAMFAA convention hosted by the Fairchester Hose Haulers in Wallkill on Aug. 13, 2016. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
WALLKILL—Even with the heat index reaching over 100 degrees, people came out for the antique fire apparatus muster on Aug. 13, part of the 2016 national convention of the Society for the Preservation & Appreciation of Antique Fire Apparatus (SPAAMFAA). The four-day convention, which started Aug. 10, was hosted by a local SPAAMFAA chapter, the Fairchester Hose Haulers. Their headquarters at 2618 Rt. 302 in Wallkill is called the “Truck House,” so named for several hundred antique fire trucks the warehouse contains. There were so many trucks at the muster, both from Hose Hauler members and other SPAAMFAA members, they had to put them “out back, out front, and wherever we could squeeze them in,” said Robert Reynolds, one of the organizers. In addition to the truck show, there was a fire-themed flea market, scale model fire apparatus exhibits, and a Hose Hauler member who gave a gold leaf painting demonstration on an old fire truck, among other activities. The event was open to the public; Reynolds didn’t have an estimate for how many people came, but noted cars were parked from Rt. 17 to Rt. 17M along Rt. 302.
The 1965 FDNY Mack Super Pumper at the SPAAMFAA convention hosted by the Fairchester Hose Haulers in Wallkill on Aug. 13, 2016. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
The 1965 FDNY Mack Super Pumper at the SPAAMFAA convention hosted by the Fairchester Hose Haulers in Wallkill on Aug. 13, 2016. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
A 1910 Brush roadster at the SPAAMFAA convention hosted by the Fairchester Hose Haulers in Wallkill on Aug. 13, 2016. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
A 1929 white Salvage Corps fire truck at the SPAAMFAA convention hosted by the Fairchester Hose Haulers in Wallkill on Aug. 13, 2016. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
A 1948 Ward LaFrance fire truck at the SPAAMFAA convention hosted by the Fairchester Hose Haulers in Wallkill on Aug. 13, 2016. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
A 1910 Brush roadster at the SPAAMFAA convention hosted by the Fairchester Hose Haulers in Wallkill on Aug. 13, 2016. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
A 1928 Sanford pumper truck at the SPAAMFAA convention hosted by the Fairchester Hose Haulers in Wallkill on Aug. 13, 2016. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
Firefighter helmets on a 1928 Sanford pumper truck at the SPAAMFAA convention hosted by the Fairchester Hose Haulers in Wallkill on Aug. 13, 2016. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
A 1939 Diamond T fire truck at the SPAAMFAA convention hosted by the Fairchester Hose Haulers in Wallkill on Aug. 13, 2016. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
The emblem on a 1939 Diamond T fire truck at the SPAAMFAA convention hosted by the Fairchester Hose Haulers in Wallkill on Aug. 13, 2016. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
A 1946 Mack 75 fire truck at the SPAAMFAA convention hosted by the Fairchester Hose Haulers in Wallkill on Aug. 13, 2016. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
A 1931 Ahrens-Fox fire truck at the SPAAMFAA convention hosted by the Fairchester Hose Haulers in Wallkill on Aug. 13, 2016. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
A 1935 Seagrave fire truck at the SPAAMFAA convention hosted by the Fairchester Hose Haulers in Wallkill on Aug. 13, 2016. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
A 1948 Dodge ladder and pumper truck at the SPAAMFAA convention hosted by the Fairchester Hose Haulers in Wallkill on Aug. 13, 2016. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
A 1946 Mack 75 fire truck at the SPAAMFAA convention hosted by the Fairchester Hose Haulers in Wallkill on Aug. 13, 2016. (Holly Kellum/Epoch Times)
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