Now the members need money and manpower to restore it to a condition befitting a final tribute to those who dedicated their lives to helping others in emergencies, said former firefighter J.R. Russell.
Retired firefighter Frank Tamayo first pitched the idea for the ''Last Call'' truck a few months ago while talking to City Councilman Jose Ibarra about a proposed fire museum.
''He told me, 'You find the truck, I'll find the money,' '' Tamayo said.
Association members looked at trucks in half a dozen cities around Arizona and northern Mexico, along with some on the Internet, before finding one right in their own metaphorical back yard. The truck they purchased had been parked for 20 years at a south Tucson salvage yard.
''Of all the ones we looked at, it turned out this is the one the honor guard really liked,'' he said. The honor guard is 21 active-duty firefighters who serve as pallbearers and otherwise help with firefighter funerals.
Ibarra was called on to negotiate with the truck's owner, who agreed to sell it for $1,200.
Ibarra also recruited Neil Capin of Capin's Car Washes to put up the money, allowing the firefighters to use their money for the restoration.
Information from: The Arizona Daily Star
