Old fire truck gets new life in Mexico

BROOKSTON, Ind (WLFI) - An old fire truck is getting a new lease on life.

Camp Tecumseh in Brookston, Indiana, is the latest donor of a fire truck to the Mexico Initiative.

The Mexico Initiative collects out-of-service fire trucks and ships them to Mexico to be put to use. This is will be the 17th truck the group collected over the past 5 years.

Mexico Initiative chairman Claude Johnson said the idea came from an article he read about Mexican villages needing things they simply didn't have. He said his son gave him the idea for fire trucks.

"It kind of morphed its way into fire trucks because my son is an insurance agent who insures fire departments. And he told me about all this equipment that is still good equipment - as you can see it's a nice truck - but it's just a little old. So we pick them up and ship them to Mexico," said Johnson.

The truck will begin its voyage to Mexico in about a month. Johnson said it takes about two days to ship. Once it is there, it will be checked out before being put back into service.

Johnson said the need for fire trucks in Mexico is endless.

"We could give them a thousand trucks if we had them. That's why we are still doing this. Most rotary projects don't last 5 years or 6 years. This project is because the need is certainly there. Guys that will give us their retired trucks just make it work out real well," said Johnson.

Johnson said the heavy use of the fire engines he has helped send demonstrates the high demand. He said that while a fire engine used in an Indiana town might make less than 20 runs in one year, a fire engine sent to a Mexican village might make over 700.

Johnson said any fire department that has a truck in decent condition and is willing to donate it, can call 765-361-1196. He said a tax write-off is available.