Firetruck to be used to represent fire department

A second life for Engine 11

A deep-throated rumble reverberated through the still air as a cloud of hazy, grey smoke drifted up into the pines. The diesel engine slowly found its rhythm, the sound of a distant past coming back to life.

At first glance, the old red fire truck in the back yard of Gerald Mishoe's Summerville home doesn't look like much. Stripped of its chrome fittings, its paint faded and tires bald, the 1961 Mack truck appears to be just another relic of days gone by. But appearances can be misleading.

Over the past several months, Mishoe and other members of the Charleston

Firefighter Support Team have been laboring to restore the old Engine 11 to serve as an ambassador of sorts for the city's Fire Department.

When work is completed, hopefully by some time in the spring, the newly refurbished Engine 11 will visit schools, ride in parades and participate in other events. It will do so in honor of the nine Charleston firefighters killed in the June, 18, 2007, Sofa Super Store blaze and their colleagues who carry on the Fire Department's mission today, said Mishoe, a former North Charleston firefighter who heads the support team and the state firefighter association's counseling unit.

"We really want it to be a centerpiece for the renaissance of the Charleston Fire Department," Mishoe said. "It's really a tribute to all the firefighters there who are taking the Fire Department forward."

The support team, which has assisted firefighters and families left behind after the Charleston fire, came up with the idea for the project after participating in last year's city Christmas parade. They decided to acquire a truck of their own as a vehicle for education and awareness.

Mishoe called Stoney Blanton, who collects and displays old fire trucks and memorabilia at his Stoney's Old Timers Firehouse in Colleton County. It just so happened that Blanton had the city's old Engine 11 parked in his building. He picked it up at auction years ago and was willing to let it go for a good cause.

"It's been in my building the whole time," Blanton said. "I just don't like seeing old fire trucks go to the scrap yard."

The truck actually started its life as Engine 10 when it arrived in Charleston in December 1960. It ended up as Engine 11 a while later when trucks were shuffled around among stations. The truck put in three decades for the Fire Department before it was retired in 1991 with only 28,000 miles on the odometer.

Mishoe thought it was perfect for the team's project, particularly since its replacement at Station 11 was the first truck on the scene at the sofa store blaze. He put up $4,500 to buy it and sprung for insurance as well so he could drive it home.

Since then, the group members have put in around 600 man-hours stripping, polishing and refitting the truck and its hardware. And they've had help and support of their own along the way.

Ann and Mike Mulkey, who lost their son, Capt. Louis Mulkey, in the sofa store fire are among those who have pitched in. Ann Mulkey got one of her brothers to find new tires and recruited another to repair the seats, which were torn and duct-taped together.

"We just thought it was a wonderful project," she said. "It's a nice idea to have something in place to represent the Charleston nine."

Her brother, Mike Kornharens, owner of Grady's Automotive Upholstery in North Charleston, did more than just put new fabric on the seats. He stitched in a Maltese Cross with inscriptions that pay tribute to the fallen firefighters.

Jeff Holbird, a retired North Charleston fire battalion chief, has agreed to paint the truck, and Palmetto Paint, a distributor for PPG Industries, is donating all the supplies, Mishoe said.

The support team is still short of reaching the $12,000 it needs to fund the project. About $1,600 has been raised so far, Mishoe said.

But Mishoe is confident the work will get done, and he can envision a day where smiling school children will be riding atop the truck and getting a glimpse of the what the fire service is all about. "We're just thrilled. This is gonna be great."

Reach Glenn Smith at 937-5556 or gsmith@postandcourier.com.

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