BRENHAM FIRE DEPT. CELEBRATES SAMANTHE’S 100TH BIRTHDAY
A long-standing member of the Brenham Fire Department engine fleet is now a centenarian.
Citizens came to the Brenham fire station on Saturday to celebrate the 100th birthday of the department’s 1923 American LaFrance Chemical Engine, Samanthe.
The department let residents ride in the aerial ladder truck, gave fire truck tours and vehicle extrication demonstrations, and had booster truck hose pumping for children.
According to the fire department's website, Samanthe 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. Brenham’s Samanthe is one of only three left in the world today, and the only one with its original engine.
A project to restore Samanthe to original condition began in 2004 and was completed in 2008, during the city’s sesquicentennial observation.
