These village officials and Brockport firefighters accompanied the fire engine to its new home in the FASNY Museum in Hudson, NY. Photographs by Christopher Martin, Brockport FD, PIO.

Pumper 2312 displays much of the gold leaf insignias for which Scott Warthman was so well known.

Firefighters donate historic apparatus to statewide museum

Brockport firefighters, in cooperation with the Village of Brockport, have retired the oldest active fire engine in the fleet. Their 1971 Hahn was purchased from Hahn Motors, Inc. of Hamburg, PA and came off the line in October 1971. It has been an active pumper in the department’s fleet since its arrival until this year. Department officials have been working for several months with the village board and the Board of Trustees of the Firemen’s Association of the State of New York (FASNY) Museum of Firefighting. The goal was to have the truck relocated and displayed at the museum in Hudson, NY.

The Museum Board was very pleased to receive this retired apparatus. It is the only one on display with a “Cincinnati” cab, a factory diesel engine and it is the only Hahn housed at the Museum. (Hahn Motors is no longer in business). In addition to the other “firsts” and “onlys”, the truck was donated by the department in memory of the late Chief D. Scott Warthman. It is the only piece at the museum that is laden with much of his gold leaf art that is so familiar in and around Brockport. As you may recall from earlier information from the department, Scotty designed the logo for the department which includes our 1876 Silsby Steamer in the center. The Silsby Steamer is housed at the Brockport Fire Museum on Main Street in Brockport. The gold leaf work on the doors, and the front and sides of the truck, were all done by Scotty and the department is pleased to share this in a lasting venue for all who visit the FASNY Museum to see and admire.

This old fire engine was driven across the state to Hudson on August 12 and delivered to the museum by Brockport Village Trustee and Past Chief Norm Knapp, Deputy Chief Larry Vaughan and Firefighters Jerry Remington, Dean Westcott, Joe Murphy, Mike Corey and Chris Grant. A plaque recognizing Scotty and his contributions to firefighting hangs on the front of the truck with a photo of Scott Warthman and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and a second photo of the Monument.

Christopher R. Martin
Public Information Officer
Brockport Fire Department

Plaque memorializes truck donation
The plaque placed on the front of the fire engine donated to the FASNY Museum reads as follows: You are standing in front of our 1971 Hahn Model C10 Engine equipped with a Hale 1000 g.p.m. pump that was purchased by the Brockport Fire Department. It was built by Hahn Motors, Inc. of Hamburg, Pennsylvania and came off the line on October 27, 1971. It was put into service by the Horace Silsby Hose Company #1 of Brockport Fire Department early in 1972 and has remained a first line piece of apparatus in our impressive fleet until it was retired earlier this year after over thirty years of service to our community.

Given in Memory of:
Chief D. Scott Warthman, Brockport FD
April 9, 1943 - December 13, 2003

D. Scott Warthman is pictured here with former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani when he visited Brockport only one week before the vehicular accident which took Scott’s life in December 2003. Scott’s wife, Bonnie, has related that meeting the mayor and presenting him with a photo of the monument was one of the highlights of Scott’s career as a firefighter.

Scotty, as he was known to all, served our department in a variety of ways since joining in 1961: Fire Chief, Department Historian, Gold Leaf Artist, Restorer of Antique Fire Apparatus, Visionary and Storyteller, among a multitude of others. It was Scotty’s dream to create the Firefighters Monument and he chaired that committee right from the start. We lost him in a tragic automobile accident on a fateful day in December 2003 and the loss has struck departments and individuals across our region. It will be felt for many years to come.

As an accomplished gold leaf artist, he designed and created helmet front pieces for chiefs, officers and firefighters alike. His front pieces have been ordered and worn in cities and towns all over the Northeast, and as far away as Florida and Texas. Scott was very proud of his work, and would watch television when he knew someone with one of his pieces was being interviewed on the news. He is also the artist who designed what has become our logo (shown on this page), inside the patch design, on the doors of this truck and on our uniforms, apparatus and stationery -- virtually everywhere our name and logo is used. The truck represented in the logo is our 1876 Silsby Steamer which is still owned by the Department and housed locally in our museum.

This truck is heavily laden with Scotty’s work; from the door emblem to the lettering on the front and sides, he worked tirelessly to create first rate images on all our apparatus. We wanted to share this historical piece with our brethren in a place where many people would be able to see this piece of equipment and remember a man who contributed more to the fire service through his efforts as a firefighter and historian than many of us could perceive possible.