IRMO, S.C. — Irmo Fire District Chief Mike Sonefeld sat down with Street Squad to tell us the history of their 1979 Chevrolet with a Pierce fire body in the back.
Chief Sonefeld told us it was donated to the Irmo Fire District in 1990 after a nearby company did not feel like they needed it anymore with the Irmo Fire District being near by.
"We used it for 10 years as a rescue vehicle, medical vehicle and eventually converted it into a brush truck," Chief Sonefeld said. "At its age of 25 plus years old, we no longer could use it as an emergency vehicle. We donated it to the Charleston Nine Foundation to help in anyway- they could sell it, do whatever they needed it to."
The foundation sold the truck and that was the last they had heard of it. "And then about two months ago, somebody was down in Charleston, took a picture of it and said ‘hey is this your old truck?’" Sonefeld said, "It was and I made contact with the owner, he had several offers much higher than we were willing to pay but once we told him the story behind the truck, he decided it needed to come back home.”
Assistant Chief Ben Smith says he remembers the truck being in service when he joined the IFD team in 1993.
Smith has many memories with the truck but one stood out for him, "In 1998 one of the big things was we took it down to Florida when it seemed like the entire state was on fire. We ended up driving this thing all over a couple of counties down there for 10 days you know, do woods fires and brush fires."
"Its served the community for so long," Smith said, "there’s no telling how many number of houses that truck has been to. To me its just helped out so many people in the community and hopefully we can get it refurbished and back in the condition to where we can take it to fire prevention activities or use it in parades. Find ways we can incorporate it into the Irmo Fire District and serve the people.”
To learn more about this truck or donate to help with its restoration, contact the Irmo Fire District.
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