It’s now this fire truck’s turn to be rescued.
Officials in Malverne are trying to raise some $40,000 to restore a vintage 1930s fire engine that reliably served the municipality for nearly half a century in hopes it can live on as symbol of the town’s past.
“It’s a piece of history we don’t want to let go…this vehicle had a tremendous impact in the community itself,” Malverne Deputy Mayor Scott Edwards, who has been a volunteer firefighter in the town his whole adult life, told The Post.
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“It enabled the firefighters to do their job and do it well, to save lives and save property.”
The antique 1938 Seagrave pumper truck that went out on a few thousand calls had been in use from the pre-World War II era until 1979.
“Guys talk about it. Apparently, it was pretty fun to drive just because of the way it was designed,” said Edwards, who explained that the vehicle — featuring hose and pump lines plus wooden ladders — had its body restored in the early 1990s.
“A couple of years after it was back from restoration, the motor was blown while driving,” Edwards, a caretaker of the truck, added.
Since then, the Seagrave can’t move an inch without the assistance of a forklift and lives covered up in the dark garage of a public works facility behind a Little League field in Malverne.
Edwards’ dream of getting it running again with a working engine isn’t to douse more flames, but rather to keep the town’s tradition alive — all in hopes of inspiring new recruits to join the 65-strong volunteer department.
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“Having the younger kids and young adults see the truck, we hope it sparks a little bit of interest,” he said of it ideally wheeling around in parades and other public events.
“That’s kind of the conversation we hope it can start.”
Rescue me
Resuscitating the Seagrave is a five-alarm job because its dated manufacturer has since closed up shop.
With only the financial support of Malverne’s muster club and historical society, Edwards and others have scoured junkyards across America for years, trying to get the right parts to suffice.
He thought they struck gold once by finding a motor in North Carolina — only to see it had a giant hole on one of its sides. Another fire truck engine, which was being used as a building generator before being scrapped, couldn’t get the truck running either.
“So now we’re at the point where we have to actually start making parts in order to get the truck to work,” Edwards said of what is likely a ballpark $40,000 endeavor.
“We have the machine shop lined up,” Edwards said, which could handle the gargantuan task at hand.
The town is hoping they can raise the repair costs through state financial grants.
Malverne Mayor Tim Sullivan and local Congresswoman Laura Gillen have both been vocal about getting the money to do the repairs. With the direct help of state Senator Patricia Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick, Edwards is crossing his fingers for good news by June.
“We’re hoping that the state can earmark a few bucks and help us get this running, and really preserve the history here,” the deputy mayor added. “I’d love to have this in the 2026 Memorial Day Parade.”
