Pend Oreille County Fire District 8 purchased the 1959 Pirsch fire engine from Pend Oreille County Fire District 3 in the early 1990’s. According to Roger Castle, who was District 8’s Fire Chief at that time, this was the district’s first fire engine. Back then District 8 had no fire station so Chief Castle parked the engine at his home. In preparation for training, he would use his garden hose to fill the engine and then District 8’s volunteer firefighters would gather there and spray the evergreen trees for practice.
Around the turn of the century, during maintenance, one of the rotors broke and was eventually lost while searching for a new one. The fire engine was parked and has been unused since then. In 2011, the Fire Commissioners of District 8 voted to surplus it.
The district believes it has a Hale 1000 gal per minute pump and a Hall-Scott 6156 inline 6cyl gas engine (935 cubic inch).
Please contact the Chief or Commissioners for more information.