An old engine for Columbia Falls is a welcome new rig for the Blankenship Fire Department. 

Blankenship in December bought Columbia Falls' 1994 HME Central States engine for $16,000, which was a great deal, said Blankenship Chief Terry Wiegand.

The old ‘84 Mack that Blankenship used to use only had a canopy in the back, so firefighters heading to a blaze or an emergency were exposed to the elements. The new engine has room for five firefighters in the cab, along with self-contained breathing units.

While it’s 32 years old, it only has 19,747 miles and 747 hours of time on its engine.

The department recently had Blankenship decals put on and it looks great.

The Blankenship Department is a small force covering a huge geographical area. Fourteen volunteers go from Blankenship to the Canada line on about 50 calls annually, Wiegand said.

Half the calls each year are in the north end of the district from Polebridge on up. They respond to motor vehicle accidents, fires and a host of other emergencies. Columbia Falls is an automatic mutual aid in the event of a fire.

Not many people live in the district, noted former chief Ed Burlingame. It has about 280 permanent residents and another 112 or so in the summer months.

Of its volunteers, half are EMT certified. They train twice in the fall and twice in the spring at the Columbia Falls training facility south of the intersection of U.S. 2 and Montana 40, Wiegand noted.

The department has seen significant community support as of late, Wiegand said. A recent mailer netted $35,000 for the department, which was $5,000 more than it was asking for. The funds went to new radios. 

The next big fundraiser will be for a new hall. The new engine, while welcome, has about an inch clearance on either side of the door, Wiegand said. A volunteer has passed their driving test when they can successfully back the engine into the hall, Wiegand noted with a smile.