Historic Polson Fire Engine Returns to Service for One More Call

A piece of Polson Fire Department history unexpectedly returned to service on the Fourth of July.

The City of Polson Fire Department’s 1936 Darley fire engine, normally used as a parade and museum piece, was making its way back to the station after the holiday events on Saturday, July 3, when a medical call was dispatched nearby. Since this 90-year-old engine was the closest available fire department unit, the crew responded.

The engine has a long history with the department. According to department history written by Bud Morse, Polson purchased its first pumper in 1936: a Darley fire engine equipped with a 500-gallon-per-minute pump and a 200-gallon booster tank. That same history notes the engine is now part of the Flathead Historical Museum collection.

The truck was retired from front-line service in or around 1985 and has since been preserved for parades, public events and historical displays. But on the Fourth of July, the old engine found itself doing what it was built to do: answering a call for service in the community.

The response was not a typical emergency response by modern standards. The 1936 engine lacks the equipment and capabilities of today’s fire apparatus and is not used as a regular response unit. However, with trained personnel on board and the call occurring nearby, the crew was able to respond as the closest fire department resource until additional assistance could arrive if needed.

For the department, the moment served as a reminder of Polson Fire’s long connection to the community.

“This engine represents generations of Polson firefighters who served before us,” Fire Chief Kevin Straub said. “It is normally something people see in a parade, not on a call. But on the Fourth of July, it had one more opportunity to serve the city.”

The 1936 engine remains an important part of the department’s history and a visible link between Polson’s early fire protection efforts and the modern fire and EMS service operating today.