PEABODY — A former Peabody firetruck will soon be on the road again.
Tom Hills of Danvers recently purchased the 1962 B-Series Mack firetruck for $1,750 from the Peabody Fire Honor Guard, the group's president Chris Dowling said.
Dowling inherited responsibility for the truck when he became the guard's leader in 2005 but realized the work was too much for them.
Dowling put up the truck for sale, and Hills, who had been looking for a Mack firetruck for two years, came to buy it.
The Peabody apparatus is Hills' first solo project. His brother's father-in-law, Raymond Pitts, introduced him to the restoration work about five years ago.
"It's a little hobby," Hills said.
He moved the truck from Peabody's Prospect Street station over Father's Day weekend.
Hills studied auto body at North Shore Technical High School before becoming a jet mechanic in the Air Force. He never really planned to restore firetrucks, but the hobby does speak to his inner child.
"Every little boy loves firetrucks," he said.
Hills plans to combine the Peabody truck with a 1942 Mack that Pitts, a retired Wakefield firefighter, gave him.
Hills hopes to have the truck finished within a year.
"I want to get it back on the road," he said. "That's the whole point."
Peabody firefighter Ted Quinn, a department historian, said the city purchased two B-series Macks in 1962. One replaced a 1942 truck lost in a fire at Engine 5 in 1961. The second was assigned to Engine 7 in West Peabody.
"It's my favorite piece," Quinn said. "That's the best-looking truck. That's what I remember firetrucks looking like when I was a kid."
He said the truck worked all through the 1960s, 1970s and into the mid-1980s, including one of the city's largest blazes at the Henry Leather Factory on May 10, 1984.
"It was actually one of the first trucks there," said Deputy Chief Tim Coughlin, who rode the back step of the vehicle.
"It was a rough ride and you did a lot of bouncing, but you hung on tight," he said.
The truck served at a busy time in Peabody. The leather industry was on the decline, and the factories fell into disrepair, leaving them more susceptible to fire.
Then-fire Chief Arthur Flynn purchased the "sister" trucks, boasting innovations like enclosed cabs and heaters. The trucks also carried 250 gallons of water, far less than today's 750 gallons, Coughlin said.
"So you had to work quick," the deputy chief said.
Coughlin said the truck was retired in the '80s. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Corrections Department later refurbished the truck, he said.
"It doesn't need a whole lot of work, just buffed up a bit," he said.
Hills said once the truck is finished he would probably enter it into parades and car and truck shows.
Man Killed in Courthouse Shootout
Video of Ga. Man Who Killed Girl Released
Air Force Airlines: Leaders Get Polished Service
Ga Girl Fights Off Kidnapper at Walmart
Nevada Highway Patrol, City Settle Beating Case
White House Attacks Romney on Birth Control
Homs Bombardment Continues, Global Outcry Grows
Mo. Teen Gets Life Sentence for Killing Girl, 9
Lower-hassle Screening to Be Tested at Airports
Raw Video: Dog Rescued From Icy Colo. Water
Helmet Camera Captures Calif. Fire Rescue
Worker Tells 911: Powell 'exploded the House'
Triple Win: Santorum Takes Minn., Mo., Colo.
Injured Marine Inspired by Homecoming
No Rape Charges Against Son of NYPD Commissioner
Egypt's Ruling Generals Play Risky Game With US
Former Komen Exec Defends Funding Cut
Skip the Coffee Cup and Inhale Your Caffeine Fix
Calif. Gay Marriage Ban Ruled Unconstitutional
Jury Selection for Ex-UVa Athlete Enters 2nd Day
