Varna Volunteer Fire Company - Town of Dryden, NY

Note the station on the right end of the building. You can see the 1967 addition to the Varna Community Association building on the other end of the building in the pictures of "Old 1901" below. This picture is of the original piece of apparatus of the Varna Fire Company. Built from a 1948 Ford fuel tank truck purchased from GLF (now Agway), most of the conversion to a fire truck was done by fire company members in a barn at the Game Farm.

This 1956 Blitz Buggy was manufactured in Old Forge in the Adirondacks. Always frugal, the fire company in 1957 was able to purchase this Ford F350, 350 GPM, "initial attack engine" with a 250 gallon booster tank, as a demonstrator, saving quite a few hundred dollars. It was replaced in 1974 by a Dodge/Saulsbury mini pumper.

Our second Saulsbury piece of equipment, built in 1974, this front mounted pump produced 500 GPM and carried 250 gallons of water. Not long after putting this truck in service, the Varna Rescue Squad was formed. EMS and extrication equipment was loaded in, and as usually happens, the truck became overloaded. ,Nevertheless this truck served well as first truck out on all calls until our EMS truck was placed in service in 1981.

Apparatus: 1941 - Mini-Pumper
Year: 1984
Years in Service: 1984 - 2006
Make: GMC
Model: GMC High Sierra 3500
Built By: E-One

Details: This truck was originally intended to be used as a first-in truck, because it was faster than our larger trucks. It now is used primarily for brush fires, and used to respond to remote location calls where 1901 can't get to easily. This truck has a discharge rate of 250 gallons per minute, and carries 200 gallons.

This 1980 Ford Custom F350 was built by Saulsbury Fire Equipment for use as an EMS vehicle, complete with a 3.5 KW generator and lights. It wasn't long before an Amkus hydraulic rescue tool and other heavy rescue equipment was added to the truck. Although heavy duty rear springs were added, it did not handle the excess weight very well. Thankfully, over the years, all drivers managed to keep it upright, except for one occasion, and on the road. That one occasion found the truck nose up, tailboard down, while performing a K turn. After being retired in 2001, the truck was restored to a beautiful 1980 lime green pickup right in our neighborhood. The box has been seen on another chassis in Syracuse.

A 1971 Ford L-900 tanker and our first vehicle built by Saulsbury was purchased in 1972. This truck was the first lime green piece of fire apparatus in Tompkins County. The tank was replaced and truck refurbished in early '90s by Pierce Welding in Slaterville, NY. In September, 1998, this truck (often referred to as the "Jolly Green Giant") was flat bedded to Vanceboro, Maine, to continue its service to that Canadian border community.

This truck was used for all tanker operations. It could also serve as a pumper, and on at least one occasion became an attack engine. It had a Darley 1000 GPM front mount pump, and carried 1500 gallons.

A Ford C850 Ward LaFrance truck built in neighboring Elmira and delivered in 1962, this was the first pumper tanker in our county. Equipped with a 750 GPM Waterous pump and a 1000 gallon tank, the "old 1901" served well in both capacities. In the early 80's, the deteriorating tank was replaced with a 600 gallon tank to allow quicker responses. Powered by a gasoline 534 cid engine, this vehicle was anything but nimble on our hills, so it usually followed the mini pumper in response to calls. It was replaced by the "new" 1901 in 1988. Another view of this truck is included in the History page.

Purchased in 1988 and put in service early in 1989, this American Eagle War Eagle 1000 was designed to fulfill the current and future needs of the company. Advanced in our area in that she had a top mount pump and carried 5" large diameter hose and 2" Storz coupled hand lines, as well as a Foam Pro system, this engine carried 1250 gallons of water and pumped a capacity of 1500 gpm. She was designed to fit in our station at 945 Dryden Road, and because of that length limitation, the Mack MC-F with a 300 hp engine and manual transmission was chosen to accommodate the other options. A sturdy and dependable truck, albeit not terribly friendly to drive, few potential drivers accepted the challenge to achieve the double clutching and accuracy in shift timing required to get her on the road. Rarely, however, did she miss a call. The top mount pump was a definite success and foam was a plus in fire suppression. Her replacement is equipped similarly.

Retired in mid 2005, "Mack 1901," as she was referred to after the arrival of the new 2005 engine, was sold to a small fire department in Vermont. On August 27, 2005, Chris, Vern, John and Peter met Duane and others at the Varna station and papers were signed transferring ownership. They then drove their "new" truck back to Vershire, Vermont, and after arriving reported that the trip went without incident and the truck apparently met all their expectations. We hope to hear more when they place it in service.

Apparatus: 1901 - Pumper