CAYCE, S.C. — The Cayce Historical Museum has restored the city's first ever fire truck, used in 1936.
The fire truck was used by the City of Cayce from 1936 to 1948. It was sold in 1955 to another small town. After about ten years, the city bought the truck back.
Jerry Kirkland, the curator at the Cayce Historical Museum, says it took two years to get the 1936 REO fire truck restored.
"When we first found the truck... it was in pretty bad shape. It had been sitting out for 15 years and had deteriorated real bad," said Kirkland.
While working on the truck, they noticed several pieces were missing. These missing pieces had to be located or made by hand.
The museum used money from their budget over several budget cycles to help rebuild the fire truck one part at a time.
It took a lot of patience and hard work, but after two years, the fire truck is in great condition.
"It's really turned out fabulous. We're real pleased with it. It runs good. We have been driving it the last couple of weeks," explained Kirkland.
The curator believes with the fire truck being restored to its glory days, it's another piece of history the city can be proud of.
"It took so long, two years of working on it, you had times you thought we're never going to get this fixed," said Kirkland. "It just finally fell together and it was really great to drive it and see the enthusiasm of the people here in the city of how they like it."
Andy Thomas, the museum assistant, says it's been a long time coming.
"I think it's amazing. It's going to be a jewel for our museum here, which we're finishing the fire truck, but then we're going to have an exhibit for our fire and police and our public safety building," said Thomas.
People will be able to see the 83-year-old fire truck at the West Columbia-Cayce Christmas Parade. Kirkland hopes to be driving it during the parade. On December 7th, the museum will be hosting its annual Christmas Traditions event and the truck will be out for everyone to see.