Ezra Atunez’s birthday party theme this year was firetrucks because he just loves them, his parents said.
The 4-year-old was happy to ring the bell of an antique firetruck named Old Number One on display at the Mundelein Memorial Day parade. Many more will get to see it at the Fremont Public Library’s summer kickoff party on Sunday, and at other locations throughout Lake County in the coming months.
Today, the restored vehicle is admired at parades and special events. A century ago, it was the village of Mundelein’s first firetruck — Number One.
“In 1925 this was state-of-the-art; the best firefighting equipment on the road,” said Bob Stadlman.
As chairman of the Old Number One Preservation Committee since it was created in 2008, Stadlman has worked with the Mundelein Heritage Museum and other entities to put together the truck’s history, complete with photos.
Year-round, the committee makes sure its six-cylinder engine, red body, gold-embossed lettering, big tires and shiny silver bell are always ready to provide that wow factor.
The 1925 Stoughton Fire Engine was a gift from Cardinal George William Mundelein to the village, in gratitude for renaming it after him in 1924.
The cardinal founded St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in 1921. Records show the village had gone through other names before that, including Rockefeller, after the industrialist and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller.
“The wise cardinal knew that improved fire protection would better protect the huge investment the diocese was making at the seminary, as well as protecting the village of Mundelein; a win/win scenario for both parties,” Stadlman said.
Until then, the department’s only firefighting equipment had been a hose cart with several hundred feet of hose. That 1915 relic is on display at the village’s museum.
Stadlman said it had been mandated in the truck’s purchase contract that it be inspected and its pumps tested. The Chicago Fire Department at Navy Pier did so in the summer of 1925, according to records.
Number One served Mundelein for more than 20 years. But by 1945, it had become unreliable, and so it was sold the following year. Then sold again and again. Stadlman said the truck went to different places in Illinois, to Tennessee, and Virginia.
Number One eventually ended up in a barn in North Carolina.
It was then that retired Mundelein firefighter Jim Carew said, seemingly out of nowhere, he got a call. The caller said that if you want the truck to come get it, otherwise it’s going to the scrapyard. Carew had been in the fire department for nearly 30 years. He was also a mechanic known for his love of firetrucks.
To say the vehicle was in disrepair is an understatement, he said. It took two trucks to transport the boxes containing the parts that once made Number One whole.
“Everything was loose,” Carew said. “It took hours to find and load everything, but it’s the history of my department, and I wasn’t going to let it go.”
Carew’s intention was to restore the firetruck. He put it together enough to see the shape of it, but due to a lack of time and the money needed for that scope of a project, the progress stopped. Number One sat in his garage untouched for 14 years, until the village came calling.
Stadlman said the Village Board wanted something to show residents at the village’s centennial celebration, and chose the firetruck, because after all, not too many places can say they still have their first. They purchased it from Carew for $11,000, and hired him to restore it to its original condition.
“The caveat was that in nine months I had to have it done,” he said.
Carew and a team had to work fast, especially because pieces and parts had to be specially made as they were no longer manufactured, he said.
Old Number One was presented to residents at the village of Mundelein’s Centennial Celebration on Oct. 17, 2009, at the University of St. Mary’s of the Lake.
“I was pretty proud of it at the unveiling,” Carew said. “I could never have afforded to restore it like that, working out of my wallet.”
Thanks to the preservation committee, which raised the $70,000 in donations that it took to restore it, not only does it look new, but Old Number One can operate in fighting a fire.
“No tax dollars were used for the restoration,” Stadlman said. “To this day, this award-winning fire engine continues with just donations.”
An annual golf outing is the committee’s biggest fundraiser, Stadlman said. It pays for the truck’s maintenance.
The difference between typing on a computer keyboard and an original typewriter is how Darrell Hughes describes driving Old Number One compared to a modern fire engine.
Hughes was a mechanic for the Mundelein Fire Department who retired in 2021. He joined the committee last year. He said he had to practice to be able to drive the old firetruck because it’s challenging to maneuver. As in 1925, it doesn’t have a windshield or seatbelts. It doesn’t have power steering; it has mechanical-only rear brakes and weighs about 10,000 pounds.
“The firefighter that had to drive it out on calls in December or January back then was a tough one,” Stadlman said.
There are no turn signals on Old Number One, so its driver has to use hand signals. Only while in motion can its large wheels be turned.
To protect it, no one is allowed to get on the truck or touch it at events, but the bell can be rung and children love to, Stadlman said. Last year, it rang approximately 24,000 times, according to their bell counter.
“Back in the day, they rang the bell so horses and people and whatever cars there were would get out of the way,” Stadlman said.
Co-founding committee member Wendy Frasier said she enjoys kids asking about Sparky, the stuffed dalmatian dog toy that sits atop the truck. She said it represents the real dalmatians that used to accompany firefighters to their calls.
This year, Old Number One is scheduled to be at almost 40 Lake County events. Stadlman said usually it’s half that, but this year is special, being that it’s the truck’s centennial.
Committee members said they’re excited to show it off.
“Everyone smiles and waves when they see it driving by,” Stadlman said. “It has personality.”
Old Number One’s biggest outing is going to be at the village’s Community Days event during the 4th of July weekend.
