1921 fire truck donated back to the Belen Fire Department

BELEN—It’s not known when the 1921 American Lafrance fire truck left the city of Belen, but it was welcomed home on Friday after it was donated back to the fire department.

BFD Lt. Chris Martinez said he was working a few Saturdays ago when the phone rang.

“Kevin Leue said he was retiring from his transmission shop in Rio Rancho and said he wanted it to go home to Belen,” Martinez said. “He said he had it for about 30 years and it has been sitting in the back of his shop.”

Martinez said Leue had gotten the truck from a retired AFR firefighter. Now that he’s closing his shop, Auto Works Transmission, he told Martinez it was time for it to return home.

Former fire chief Manny Garcia and assistant chief Nathan Godfrey had learned Leue had the truck many years ago, took some pictures and had told Martinez of their find.

“They told me about it about eight years ago, and when the gentleman called, I knew exactly who it was,” Martinez said. “I asked him if he was the guy from Rio Rancho, and he said it was.

“We’re just really excited,” Martinez said. “Firefighters are big kids and we love fire trucks. It doesn’t matter what it is, but for this unique piece to come home reminds us of what we do. It’s just amazing.”

Lt. Jared Geherty said the 1921 American Lafrance was originally built for Belen when the fire department was established that same year.

“It started off more than 100 years ago when Belen started running fire calls,” Geherty said. “I don’t know how long it was in service. It was probably one of the first trucks the city ever had.”

While the fire truck isn’t running and isn’t in the best of shape, Martinez said it’s just going to take a matter of time, work and a bit of money.

“I’m not too sure if it had a tank on it, and I’m not too sure if we had fire hydrants back then,” Martinez said.

Geherty said the hose connection on the side of the truck shows them the first Belen firefighters were able to connect the hard suction where they would get water from, whether it was from a static water source, such as a ditch, the river, from another truck or even a hydrant.

Martinez said after talking with Leue about the truck, he’s excited that it might be able to run after some work.

“We’re going to try and get it running at least by the Christmas parade,” Martinez said. “There are a lot of parades before that, but we’ll see.”

The lieutenant said he’s not sure all the work that is going to be needed to get the old fire truck running, but he knows it needs a new battery, carburetor work and new tires.

“We’re going to patina the whole thing,” he said. “It’s going to need upholstery work, some welding.

“We are not allowed to use fire funds for this project, so we’ll need to maybe ask for donations,” Martinez said. “We’ve had a couple of mechanics who said they’d help us. Of course, the firefighters will put in some of their time and personal money.”

Martinez said there might be a couple of fund-raising opportunities, such as car washes to help raise money to restore the fire truck.

“She’s back home, and we’re excited,” he added. “When we built this new station a few years ago, we never anticipated getting this truck. We’re still thinking of where we can display it; maybe on the side, maybe at a new fire station in the next couple of years.”

Martinez hopes the fire truck will be a talking piece and bring a sense of pride back to the Hub City.

Jordan Martinez, owner of Curbside Towing, donated his time and his truck to haul the old fire truck from Rio Rancho to Belen on Friday, Feb. 28, which he said would have normally cost about $475.

“It’s a small town, and we’re here to help everybody,” Jordan Martinez said. “I’m happy to help bringing back the history.”