Fire Truck That Was In Sunday's 2nd Truck Caravan Was Privately Owned - Says Beacon's City Administrator

Word spread quickly on A Little Beacon Blog’s Instagram as we published photo and video of truck caravan developments - about how everything went down. It was a telephone game of who saw what and when. Several dots connected, so we were able to follow up on several leads.

One such lead was a fire truck that drove with the caravan, that made several onlookers uncomfortable, as they thought it belonged to a municipality. Said @harperlangston, who saw it and asked: “How is it legal for a fire engine to be in a pro-any-candidate parade?” Some even wondered if it was a Beacon fire truck.

A Little Beacon Blog reached out to the Mayor, City Administrator, Fire Chief and Chief of Police this morning with a series of questions regarding the caravan at large, one of which was the identification detail of the fire truck.

This afternoon, City Administrator Anthony Ruggiero sent out a notice to several media outlets to put the questions to rest:

“We have received a number of inquiries regarding the Fire Truck in the Truck Caravan on Sunday. The Fire Truck that was in Sunday’s Truck Caravan was not a City Fire Truck. The City fire department did not participate in the caravan. The truck was a privately owned Fire Truck. It was an E-ONE brand pumper, which the City does not and has not owned. There were no lettering and no red lights on the apparatus, as well as license plates. City Fire Trucks do not by law have licenses plates.”

A Little Beacon Blog followed up to ask how they know for sure that the truck is privately owned, and not operated by another municipality. Anthony answered: “We know definitively that it is not ours. But, the Fire Chief knows it is privately owned for all the reasons stated [above].”

You may have noticed yards along 9D or other locations, where vehicle collectors have school buses, fire trucks, and other interesting collectibles that sometimes are on display during car shows.