Sometimes when you least expect it things return home. Ward 5 Councilman Mike Brillhart is no stranger to our city’s fleet of vehicles long before his tenure on city council. In the early 90s, Brillhart volunteered his expertise to do a vehicle study on our city’s fleet in an effort to reduce the spare parts inventory and training required to keep the fleet on the road. Even as a kid, he confesses, he always had a fascination with fire trucks– mainly the older Seagrave convertible-style trucks the city started using in the late 1930’s.
Around four years ago a friend of Brillhart gave him a lead on one such truck supposedly in a field in Wisconsin. The engine never surfaced; however, because enough people were aware of Brillhart’s quest for the Seagrave, he was told that a person in Dover Ohio was in possession of a 1958 Peter Pirsch engine that still bore the white paint job and gold lettering of the Cuyahoga Falls Fire Department, and it was for sale. Ironically enough this truck was still being used by the fire department as a backup in 1995 when Mike did his vehicle study for the city. After looking it over and with some negotiation– you guessed it– Brillhart purchased the truck.
The Peter Pirsch engine came to the city in 1959 along with a brand new fire station that was constructed at 1601 Portage Trail so the department could better serve the westward expansion of the city after World War II, under the leadership of Chief Louis Seiler. That station was later demolished with a new station built in its place in 2020. After discussions with the powers to be within the Cuyahoga Falls Fire Department, Brillhart signed the title over to the Cuyahoga Falls Firefighters Memorial Foundation and the vintage truck ended up right back at the same address that it occupied when it first came to our city 63 years ago. Ironically the bell was removed from this truck when it was sold and made into a plaque for then retiring Chief Brown, when Brown passed away his family donated the plaque/bell to the Cuyahoga Falls Historical Society who displayed it for a number of years and eventually felt the Fire Department would be a better home, and the plaque/bell was displayed there as part of the station. Needless to say, months later when this truck showed up sans the bell, it didn’t take long for the plaque to come down and the bell end up back on the fire truck that was proudly displayed for so many years in service to the city. Currently plans are to make restoration a group project, then to be used for parade and funeral duty along with other fundraising events.
One would consider that a pretty good story of a resident doing a good turn and giving back to a department that has the monumental task of keeping residents safe from harm but there is more. While the Seagrave rumored to be in a Wisconsin farm field never did materialize, word of Brillhart’s quest got around. In 2022 he received an invitation from a collector in Burbank, Ohio and what he found was another absolute gem of a fire engine history with a siren that still works after all these years. The engine left Cuyahoga Falls in 1980 and had been in this gentleman’s care ever since. The glitch, however, is that it was not for sale at the time. Several months later, Brillhart received another call though, this time from the owner deciding to sell, and another piece of Cuyahoga Falls history was donated by Brillhart to the Cuyahoga Falls Fire Department Memorial Foundation. The engine as it sits runs and drives and it is in incredible original condition including the pin striping and original B.F. Goodrich firehoses, and near perfect interior. The gentleman who purchased this engine from the city was a magnificent caretaker keeping this truck all original.
Both pieces of equipment were originally purchased under the tenure of Chief Louis Seiler who was incidentally a part of the volunteer fire department in 1918 when the first motorized piece of fire fighting equipment was purchased. He became Captain when the department went from a volunteer operation and went to a full time., and later became Chief in 1938. This is a fitting tribute to his years serving our city that the fire department now has a piece of equipment purchased not only at the beginning of his tenure as Chief but at the end as well. Like the 1958 engine, this piece of equipment will also be used for parades, funeral duty, and fundraising.
Both engines will start showing up to city events and cruise-ins for photo ops and a history lesson, and the opportunity for the public to donate to help not only with the restoration of these pieces of our city’s history but also fund the firefighter memorial being constructed next to Station #1 downtown. It’s the least you can do for the men and women who have made our family’s safety their careers.
“Cuyahoga Falls has a long history of fabulous details. I want to see as much as possible preserved,” stated Brillhart. “I believe this will help build a sustainable civic pride for Cuyahoga Falls.”
Just in case any readers might want more information, the Cuyahoga Falls Firefighter Memorial Foundation is a 501c3 non-profit and all donations are tax-deductible. More information on their organization and mission is available on their website.
President Mat Kee says is always happy to answer any questions about the organization, as the foundation is very special to him and the other members of the Executive Board. They are excited both to hear our city’s old fire bell ring again soon, but also to see our historic fire trucks parked alongside it in memory of all those who’ve served our city over the past 187 years of the CFFD’s existence.
