$150K Raised to Buy Back Fire Truck 'Geraldine'

The engine fought fires in Madison, rode parades in Pennsylvania and was part of a casino's antique auto display in Reno.

It eventually wound up in a private collection in Massachusetts in the 1980s and sat there for decades until a group of Madison firefighters and history enthusiasts tracked it down and brought it back to Madison on loan about a year ago.

They brought it back with the goal of raising enough money to purchase the truck for $150,000 from the collector and keep it in Madison for good.

That goal was met—through private donations and a matching Morris County historic preservation grant, awarded last month.

Now, "Geraldine" is here in Madison to stay, only this time instead of fighting fires it will serve as a tool to educate people about the history of firefighting, teach children about fire safety, and preserve a piece of Madison's history, Fire Chief Lou DeRosa said.

The truck was donated to the borough by Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge in 1921 after a fire in a barn on her Madison estate, Giralda Farms, killed some of her beloved horses.

The truck was state of the art when it was donated, but its usefulness as a firefighting apparatus wore out and it was sold in the 1960s.

Though the Ahrens Fox P4 fire truck was gone, it never was forgotten. DeRosa said fire department members raised the subject after they saw other antique trucks. And they always kept a plaque with Dodge's name and a bell that came from the truck.

"Whenever we saw antique firetrucks, we'd wish we had our Fox back," he said.

The plaque will be mounted back on the truck during a "wet down" ceremony to celebrate the truck's rearrival, DeRosa said.

Dodge, the youngest daughter of a Standard Oil founder, is a major figure in philanthropy and Madison history. She also donated the borough's municipal building, Hartley Dodge Memorial, in honor of her son.

The private fundraising for the truck was spearheaded through a group called The Friends of Geraldine, which set up a website, www.BringGeraldineHome.com, and created a video about the truck and fundraising efforts. They raised more than the $75,000 needed for get the county match of that amount. The remaining money and ongoing fundraising will be used to do preservation work on the 92-year-old automobile and maintain it, so taxpayer dollars won't have to be  used, DeRosa said.

Research shows, for instance, that new tires for the truck could cost $850 apiece. They also plan to address a radiator issue and enhance the mechanics while keeping its historic significance in tact.

"We're extremely excited about it," DeRosa said. "It's pretty exciting to have it all come together in about a year."

Getting Morris County to agree to contribute to preserving her was a "big part of the puzzle," he said.

He said the fundraising and grant success is because a "team effort" that involved many Madison community members, including people familiar with historic preservation, including former Mayor Mary-Anna Holden, Cathie Coultas, Meg Wastie, Janet Foster and Mark DeBiasse, who helped get history students involved in creating an educational coloring book, DeRosa said.

The Borough of Madison will be the owner of the truck and insurance for it will fall under the umbrella of insurance used for the municipality's vehicles. Formal signing of the title probably won't take place for another month.

DeRosa said he was grateful to everyone who helped make it happen.

"Thank you to all that have helped with this cause," he said. "We look forward to sharing it with the community and we're going to continue fundraising just to preserve it."