100TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION SATURDAY FOR BRENHAM FD ‘SAMANTHE’ FIRE ENGINE

  

The Brenham Fire Department is celebrating the 100^th birthday of its 1923 American LaFrance Chemical Engine, Samanthe.

The public is invited on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to the Brenham fire station at 101 North Chappell Hill Street, where Samanthe will be on display with a history area. 

There will also be aerial ladder truck rides, booster truck hose pumping for children, fire truck tours and an extrication of a vehicle from 1 to 2 p.m.  The department’s mascot, “Sparky”, will be on hand as well. 

Hamburgers, hot dogs, cake, cookies and Blue Bell Ice Cream will be served.

Brenham’s Samanthe is one of only three left in the world today, and the only one with its original engine.

According to the fire department’s website, the engine was purchased on April 2, 1923 from the manufacturer in Elmira, New York.  Only 34 fire engines of this type were produced between early 1900 and 1930. 

After Samanthe’s retirement, the department sought to restore her to her original condition.  The project began in 2004 and she was unveiled in June 2008, during the city’s sesquicentennial observation.