About Olive Fire Department Fire Truck Restoration Project
Our "U.S.A." is a 1936 Holabird Fire Truck that was originally made by and for the United States Army. It was made at Camp Holabird in Baltimore, Maryland. It was then stationed at the Plattsburg Barracks in upstate New York. When done serving in Plattsburg, the USA then went to Voorheesville Transportation Depot, again serving the US Army.
In 1946 the USA went for surplus sale. It was then that Albert Fox and a group of men from Olive decided to purchase the USA and start "The Olive Fire Department" in 1947. The USA served Olive until 1959, when it's engine failed. After the engine failure in 1959 a group of people took the oil pan off the engine to see how bad things were. They found out it had a bad bearing. A very costly repair. The truck was then stripped down of all the equipment and parked in Frank Miller's barn at the intersection of 213 and Krumville Road. The truck stayed in the barn until 1997 and a group of firemen decided it would be a good idea to get the truck back out of storage and restore it for parades. The truck was towed over to the old Co#2 firehouse to be looked over and see what would have to be done to get it in running condition. There were many different ideas passed around of what options we had to do with the engine or should a different style engine and transmission be put in to save money. After many meetings and work parties a group of firemen removed the engine from the fire truck. The engine was then brought up to an engine shop in Albany to get an estimate to be rebuilt in mid September 2003. That's when the project was starting to really begin. After the engine was rebuilt there was a period of time that there was lack of leadership and interest in the project. In early 2008 a few estimates were received for the restoration to be done on the truck. Speedo's Paint and Body in Hyde Park NY was the lowest estimate. In March 2009 the USA went to Speedo's for the restoration to begin, Take a look at the photo link to see progress of the entire job step by step. The truck was returned mid May 2011 almost complete. The restoration committee then tinkered on the finishing details to the near completion of the truck. The USA truck did debut at Olives Memorial Day Parade in West Shokan in May 2011, attended the UCVFA Parade in Naponoch in July and the Kingston Antique Fire Truck Muster in Kingston in late August. Look for the truck at other local parades. 
