1927 Ann Arbor Fire Truck on its way to Ypsilanti Museum

ANN ARBOR, MI — Those who visit the Michigan Firehouse Museum and Education Center when it reopens later this month will see a bit of Ann Arbor history.

A 1927 American LaFrance fire engine from the city of Ann Arbor has found new home in the museum at 110 W. Cross St. in Ypsilanti. The Ann Arbor City Council approved the $1 fire truck sale at its meeting on Monday, June 7.

The fire truck is currently in the underground parking deck of Ann Arbor Fire Departments Station 1. But the department doesn’t have the space, money or staff to properly restore it, according to a resolution presented at the meeting.

Bringing it to the Michigan Firehouse Museum and Education Center will ensure that a piece of history is available for future generations, officials said.

We really think of this as a donation rather than a sale, said Ann Arbor Fire Chief Mike Kennedy. It went to the municipality to follow our purchasing rules. Selling an antique fire truck is nothing we’ve done before, so we had to work a bit with our city attorney and our purchasing department to make sure we were doing this within city rules regarding excess real estate.

Part of the agreement states that if the museum were to part with the fire truck, the Ann Arbor Fire Department would have the first right to refuse to get it back.

However, obtaining this fire engine is important to the museum because of the history of its founders, Howard and Norma Weaver, said Dan Egeler, president of the Michigan Firehouse Museum.

They founded the museum because Nomas’s father was an active firefighter in Ann Arbor, Egeler said. And he is the second person to die while on duty with the Ann Arbor Fire Department. They created the fire museum and really built it up to honor him.

So when we got the chance to talk to them about this vehicle, get it into a nice, climate-controlled environment, and then spend some time getting the vehicle up and running, we jumped at that opportunity.

The museum, which was established about 25 years ago, has been closed since March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Egeler said.

We survived because we had simply made an investment that would allow us to continue to maintain the facilities until we can reopen to the public, said Egeler.

As people are vaccinated and the rules lifted, the museum will reopen to the public on June 27.

The good thing about the shutdown was that it gave us an excellent opportunity to get all the motorized vehicles up and running first, and they actually drive, Egeler said. It gave us the chance to redo our exhibits and add some additional interactive exhibits for adults and for children.

The 1927 American LaFrance will be a new fire truck that attendees can witness when the museum reopens, Egeler said.

The museum is open from Thursday to Sunday from 12:00 PM to 4:00 PM. Group tours are possible by appointment. More information about the museum and updates can be found at his website.

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