(Lebanon Daily News) Overseas collector is buying the 1970 Hahn Pumper Engine

A 46-year-old fire engine that faithfully served two local fire departments will soon be traveling the rolling roads of Ireland.

A collector from the emerald isle recently purchased the 1970 Hahn Pumper Engine from the Weavertown Fire Co., and is having it shipped overseas in the coming days.

Before becoming property of Weavertown, the engine had a long history of helping the Lebanon Fire Department put out blazes.

It was purchased new by Lebanon’s Perseverance Fire Co. after being manufactured at Hahn’s plant in Hamburg, Berks County, according to Lebanon Fire Commissioner Duane Trautman, the city fire department’s unofficial historian.

“For the time, it was well built. It was an early diesel. In 1970, not too many trucks were being delivered with diesel engines,” he said. “They were tough, there is no doubt about that. And there were a lot of them in service around here.”

The design of its red chassis is indicative of the time in which it was manufactured, added Trautman.

“One of the things that made it really different is, it was built during the era of civil unrest and the hose beds were covered so you had to slide a cover to get to them, and everything else was enclosed to protect it,” he said.

After having it refurbished by Hahn in 1989, the Perseverance Fire Co. continued to use the engine for many years, until a pump governor that was difficult to repair wore out, Trautman recalled. After 37 years of daily duty for the Persy, it was taken out of service in 2007 and given to the Weavertown Fire Co.

Since then, the Hahn has been used only on occasion, as a back-up to the fire company’s newer pumper, said Weavertown Fire Chief Donald Steiner Jr., who, like his father, Donald Sr., is also a career city fire fighter.

“It was solely a reserve back up piece of equipment. Although I’d say we did use it eight or nine times over the years, when our other engine was in for repairs,” he said.

Although the engine still runs strong, Steiner said, several months ago the members of Weavertown Fire Co. decided it was time to sell the Hahn to free up a garage bay for their utility truck. They placed an online advertisement with Fire Line Equipment, a central Pennsylvania company that sells new and used fire trucks.

They set the price tag at $5,000 and crossed their fingers.

“It was on Fire Line’s website (fireline.com) for a couple of months,” Steiner said. “We were not even expecting a phone call.”

But eventually they received one, from Liam Moore, a fire engine buff from Dublin, who offered full price.

This is the second American engine Moore has purchased. He also is the proud owner of a 1967 Mack pumper.

“I purchased the fire engine originally for a boy’s toy, something I was interested in working on and possibly showing,” he said, via an emailed response. “There has been a lot of interest in fire trucks in Ireland and it has been used for demonstrations in fire stations and has been used in many charitable events.”