Fire Apparatus from 1800s back home with New York department

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Two fire apparatus from the 1800s are back home their original New York department.

The East Syracuse Fire Department officially welcomed back the 1888 Rumsey pumper and 1888 Rumsey hose cart Nov. 1, EagleBulletin.com reported.

The two rigs, which were the first two the department bought, were donated by the owner of the Fire Museum of Syracuse.

From EagleBulletin.com:

In the Fire Museum of Syracuse, located at the old station 3 on 729 Park Avenue in Syracuse with an annex location at 1132 W. Genesee Street, he has about 12 pieces of antique fire equipment all originating from a time before the 1900s.

[Donald] Herb estimates these two pieces are valued $75,000 to $90,000 in a collectors auction today.

“I never in my wildest dreams would have thought I would ever be in a position where I could donate something of such value,” said Herb. “I don’t need the money and want to see that they’re taken care of and preserved so I decided to give them back to the East Syracuse Fire Department.”

Herb told EagleBulletin.com he just wanted to see the old apparatus preserved.

Read more about the pumper and hose cart’s history on EagleBulletin.com. See more photos on a Facebook page set up for the event.