Watertown’s first motorized ladder truck will return to her former glory thanks to Tony Rubbo, a 40-year member of the volunteer fire department and resident of Oakville. When Mr. Rubbo retired, he decided to tackle two goals at once; he wanted a project to keep himself busy and to own a fire truck that had been used by the department he served for so long. Mr. Rubbo told Voices, “I have a pumper that I take to parades and car shows, but I always wanted a ladder truck.”
He searched until, three years ago, he found the 1949 Pirsch, which had been purchased used by the Watertown Fire Department in 1962 from a department in East Rockaway, N.Y. The Watertown Fire Department sent the vehicle to Wisconsin to be refurbished before using it until about 1980.