1934 fire truck restored to its old glory

MANTOLOKING — A piece of history in Mantoloking has been restored, as a 1934 Ford BB fire truck that responded to the Hindenburg disaster and survived Superstorm Sandy.

The 90-year old firetruck is owned by Foster Voorhees, who has been a member of the Mantoloking fire department for 44 years.

According to Voorhees, the 1934 fire truck responded to the Hindenburg on the first and second day of the disaster. The Hindenburg was a German commercial passenger-carrying rigid airship, which was in service from 1936 to 1937.

On May 6, 1937, the airship accident occurred in Lakehurst Maxfield Field in Lakehurst.

According to Voorhees, the fire truck was purchased new by the borough in 1934 and was active until 1960. The firetruck then spent its following years in the Mantoloking Firehouse.

The chassis was purchased from the Ford Motor Company from Detroit, Michigan, from there the chassis went to Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, where the Hale Fire Pump Company received it. In Conshohocken, the body and pump were put on the truck.

“It’s a really big key piece of history in Mantoloking,” said Voorhees.

Voorhees had asked the borough if he could have the firetruck in December of 2023 and they gave it to him.

According to Voorhees, in order to restore the vehicle, Automotive Performance Solutions in Pennington, worked on it and the entire vehicle had to be taken apart.

The fire truck made its return debut in front of Mantoloking residents during the Fourth of July parade. During the parade, Voorhees recounted that Connie Pilling, a 98-year-old resident, rode on the truck and remembered going to the scene of the Hindenburg on the firetruck.

Voorhees told The Ocean Star that multiple residents have told him that they rode to their wedding on the truck or that their daughter rode on the truck.

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