Delaware Historical Fire Society

06/01/2026

Since acquiring our 1986 Mack CF in February, we have been hard at work restoring it to its original appearance as it served with the Dover Fire Dept. as Engine 3 from 1986 to 2004.

Our goal was to have the engine ready for America's 250th Anniversary celebration in Dover this past Saturday so we could surprise the members of the department with a piece of their history. We are happy to announce that the surprise was a success, and the looks on the members' faces when they saw the truck pull into the parade lineup made all of the hard work worthwhile.

The restoration is not yet complete, and there is still more work to be done. After leaving Dover, the engine continued its career in Crawford County, Arkansas, where it faithfully served the community for another 21 years, remaining in active service until 2025.

We are proud to preserve this important piece of fire service history and look forward to sharing more updates as the restoration progresses.

05/31/2026

We have been busy the last couple days, preparing for America’s 250th Anniversary celebration hosted by the City of Dover and DVFA today in Dover.

Friday evening, members got together to get the trucks prepared for the parade. Trucks were detailed and hose was loaded onto Dover Engine 3.

Today, Dover Engine 3 returned to the City of Dover for the first time since 2004. Engine 18-4 and Engine 25-3 also attended. Perfect weather for a parade ☀️

05/29/2026

1981 Mack CF

05/26/2026

Voices of Valor – Episode 2: Bruce Ennis

We are excited to announce that we have completed filming Episode 2 of our Voices of Valor series, documenting the men and women of Delaware’s fire service who have made a tremendous impact on their communities and the fire service as a whole.

Bruce Ennis has carried many titles throughout his lifetime of service. He began his public service career in the Civil Air Patrol before joining the Air National Guard. He later became a member of the Citizens Hose Company of Smyrna, where he has proudly served for 68 years, including terms as both President and Chief during his tenure.

Bruce also served 20 years as a Delaware State Trooper before retiring and successfully running for State Representative, where he served for 25 years. He was later elected to the State Senate, serving an additional 15 years in Dover.

During his remarkable 40-year legislative career, Bruce helped pass numerous pieces of legislation, but he is perhaps best known in the fire and EMS community for helping establish the Statewide Paramedic Act — creating what was, at the time, the only statewide paramedic program in the country.

We are honored to help preserve and share Bruce Ennis’ story as part of Delaware’s rich fire service history.

We look forward to sharing Bruce’s story in the coming weeks. If you are interested in sponsoring this documentary project and helping us preserve Delaware’s fire service history, please visit the Delaware Historical Fire Society website using the link below.

The Delaware Historical Fire Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and sharing the history of Delaware’s fire service for future generations.

https://www.delawarehistoricalfiresociety.org/about-5

05/19/2026

🚨 Project Update: Mill Creek’s Former Engine 21-3!

Back in November, we shared the exciting news that Mill Creek’s former Engine 21-3 had been rescued from Wisconsin and brought back home to Delaware. Over the winter, our dedicated members have been hard at work getting this classic rig back together, and we wanted to give you all a progress report!

Things have been busy over the
Winter and into spring. We successfully sourced a replacement engine and transmission, both of which have been fully cleaned, freshly painted, and are prepped to drop right into the engine bay. To make the installation as smooth as possible, the front core support and hood were removed, and the radiator was sent out to be professionally cleaned and pressure-checked for leaks. We've also been tracking down missing pump and Seagrave body parts, securing exactly what we needed all the way from Arizona.

It’s still a long road ahead to get her fully restored, but we are making solid progress every single day. Thank you to everyone for following along on this journey!

Drop a comment below if you remember seeing 21-3 in action! 👇

05/18/2026

We will be there with our antique Delaware apparatus stop by ask questions and see what we are trying to accomplish.

DELAWARE SNAPSHOT 📸
This Celebration’s Gonna Be Fire
If you love fire trucks and our state’s volunteer fire companies – and who doesn’t? – save the date of Saturday, May 30. The City of Dover and Delaware Volunteer Firefighters Association are hosting a free, family-friendly USA/DE250 celebration on Legislative Mall. Fire companies from throughout the state will display their antique apparatus from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Firefighters’ Delaware 250 Parade starts at 5 p.m., followed by a 6:30 p.m. service at the Firefighters Memorial. The event continues with a 7 p.m., concert by the award-winning Citizens Hose Company Band of Smyrna. The grand finale: A flyover by Dover Air Force Base planes and fireworks.
– Compiled by robin brown, Writer in Residence
Delaware Public Archives
Private Photograph Collections
Harold W. T. Purnell Photograph Collection
Seaford Fire Company
Photo: 1936, hand-tinted
ID: 9015-003-001_3998pn_

05/17/2026

We sure are enjoying this beautiful weather, as we hope you all are. We were able to take advantage of this weather by spending the weekend working on Dover Engine 3.

Saturday we spent the day gathering equipment, as well as picking up 1000’ for 1-3/4 and 1200 of 5” that Hockessin Fire Company - Station 19 graciously donated to us. Through their donation we are able to get our apparatus looking the part, and we cannot thank them enough.

Sunday was spent getting everything mounted and loaded on to Dover Engine 3. There is always more to do, but we are steadily checking things off our list to have everything ready for the summer months.

Be on the look out for work days in the coming weeks. Come on out check out what we are about and give us a helping hand in preserving Delaware’s firefighting history.