2008 SPAAMFaa Convention in Syracuse NY 8/02/08

[wardengine]

UPDATE: ANTIQUE APPARATUS TRAGEDY UPDATE:
The veteran NY State Trooper and retired Fire Chief were electrocuted while fixing a flat tire on an antique fire truck when the truck's ladder touched a high-voltage power line yesterday.
Tragically killed was Chief Pierre Surprenant, the retired chief of the Ottawa (Canada) Airport FD, former director of the Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation and currently an instructor at the Ecole Nationale des Pompiers (fire training school) in Mirabel, Quebec. The antique fire truck, from the Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation, was being returned to Canada from a fire muster when a tire went flat near the Ogdensburg-Prescott International Bridge.
Also, killed in the Line of Duty was New York State Police Trooper Shawn Snow (47 with 19 years on the job), who was under the truck fixing the tire while Chief Surprenant extended the truck's ladder to distribute the weight away from the flat right rear tire. When the ladder hit the live wire, both men were killed instantly.
Facts are still unknown related to how it ended up touching the wires, whether a piece of equipment failed and it slipped and touched the wires, or whether the act of jacking it up higher on one side caused it to touch. Our condolences to all affected, especially the 2 families.=

[wardengine]

from firehouse.com

OGDENSBURG, N.Y. -- A Canadian man electrocuted Sunday in a freak accident while fixing a flat tire on an antique fire truck near the Ogdensburg-Prescott International Bridge has been identified.

Pierre Surprenant, 51, of Quebec, and state police Trooper Shawn W. Snow, 47, apparently were killed instantly when the fire truck's ladder touched a live electrical wire, carrying a current through the truck, state police said.

According to The Ottawa Citizen, Surprenant, the former fire chief at the Ottawa International Airport, was returning to his Montreal-area home following a weekend gathering in Syracuse to mark the 50th anniversary of The Society for the Preservation and Appreciation of Antique Motor Fire Apparatus in America.

He had been teaching firefighting at a school in the Montreal area for the past several months. Society members collect and restore old fire fighting vehicles and equipment.

Will Brooks, president of the Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation, said Mr. Surprenant was working to restore the large vehicle, a 1960 Pierre Thibault Ltd. ladder truck.

He was towing a 1909 Model T Ford, dressed as a chief's car, that had once been owned by the Bytown Fire Brigade.

"He was very excited about the weekend, because it was the first time he'd shown the vehicle outside Quebec," Mr. Brooks said. "We're waiting to find out just what happened.

"Pierre was very safety-conscious and we can't understand how this occurred. Perhaps it was dark and he couldn't see the wires, we just don't know."

"He was a great guy," David M. Sheen, the foundation's Ontario representative, said Monday in a phone interview from Toronto. "He loved going to all these events and showing off his truck. He was proud to display and promote the foundation. Our hearts go out to his family and to the family of the state trooper."

Trooper Snow was a 19-year veteran of the force and was assigned to the commercial vehicle enforcement unit. He was responsible for inspecting trucks that crossed the Ogdensburg-Prescott International Bridge or were traveling area roadways.

"He was a valuable member of the state police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Detail," Maj. Richard C. Smith Jr., commander of state police Troop B in Ray Brook, said Monday. "He was considered one of the nicest people you would ever meet, including outside his state police duties."

The incident occurred about 4:45 p.m. Sunday when Ogdensburg city police received a call about a fire truck on fire with people underneath it near the international bridge.

The fire truck heading to Canada was towing a trailer with an antique fire chief's car when the truck had a flat tire on the road approaching the bridge, police said. Trooper Snow stopped to help replace the flat tire.

The trooper was under the truck fixing the tire while Mr. Surprenant was extending the truck's ladder to redistribute the weight away from the flat right rear tire. When the ladder hit a live wire, both men were killed, police said

[1961mackc95]

All of these shots of classic apparatus (especially the Macks) and not one Mack Model C in sight.

Lindsay D
Richardson, TX

[1948ALF]

Great pictures, Tom. Thanks for sharing them.