By Lori Ehde
Retired Luverne Fire Chief Jim Johannsen made a special delivery for Luverne Fire Apparatus last week.
As a part-time employee of the former Luverne business, Johannsen drives completed fire trucks from the Brandon plant to clients all over the United States.
Last week, he volunteered to drive a new fire truck built by volunteer labor at Luverne Fire Apparatus and donated to the New York City Fire Department.
The truck, valued at nearly $300,000, will help replace the trucks lost in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
All totaled, 343 firefighters perished in the attack, and more than 90 pieces of fire fighting equipment were destroyed.
"For me, it was a privilege to do this," said Johannsen, who made the trip with his wife, Bonnie. "ItÕs a highlight of my career in fire service. I enjoyed this; I really did."
Luverne Fire Apparatus employee Harold Hess, Luverne, volunteered roughly 10 hours of his own time on the project.
"It was the least we could do," said Hess, Luverne. "I didn't do as much as some of the rest of them, but it was a donation-volunteer-type thing."
His part involved putting aluminum overlay on the truck after the paint job was done.
In all, nearly 70 Luverne Fire Apparatus employees donated more than 2,000 hours of their personal time between late December and early February.
"We worked weekends and nights, and once in a while weÕd close at noon on Fridays so we could work on it," Hess said.
After a Feb. 11 dedication ceremony at the Brandon plant, the truck was displayed at the Sioux Empire Mall on Feb. 16 and 17.
The pumper was like most others assembled at the plant, except for distinctive vertical art panels on each side by the rear entrance doors.
Luverne Fire Apparatus employee Tony Hamby painted the Statue of Liberty on the passenger side and a firefighter helmet in the foreground of the Twin Towers on the driver's side. Inscribed on the front of the helmet are the words, "We remember."
The truck traveled to a supplier in Chicago for another ceremony Feb. 18 before a final sendoff from Spartan Motors Inc., the parent company of Luverne Fire Apparatus, in Charlotte, Mich.
From there, it was up to Johannsen to get the precious cargo to New York City.
He and Bonnie drove 500 miles Friday, Feb. 22, and another 250 the following day. "And those trucks aren't built for over-the road," he said about the rough ride.
The machine came to rest Monday, Feb. 25, at the front door of the New York City Fire Department headquarters.
Under mild, sunny conditions, New York City Fire Department dignitaries accepted the gift with a small ceremony.
"They couldn't believe the truck came all the way from South Dakota, and a plant of only 70 people assembled it," Johannsen said.
He noticed the people of New York City weren't nearly as snobbish as they're stereotyped to be. They were openly gracious and didn't hesitate expressing thanks, something they've grown accustomed to in the past several months.
The Johannsens returned home to Luverne Thursday, Feb. 28, but not before they took in some sightseeing, which of course included a stop at Ground Zero.
He said clean-up efforts are beginning to look more like a construction zone than a battlefield, but nonetheless, it's a moving sight.
"It's mind-boggling. It's hard to comprehend that human beings could do this to other human beings," he said.
The site is 16 acres square and seven stories deep.
"Anyone who can stand there and not drop a tear is not human. ...It's really something else."
Even more moving, he said, was visiting with some of the New York City firefighters who survived the attack.
"That's a pretty somber bunch out there, because they lost a lot of firefighters," he said.
He recalled a conversation with one battalion chief who miraculously led all eight of his men to safety from three stories down after a tower collapsed on top of them.
As a former fire chief, the story was chilling to Johannsen. "That's all you ever worry about when those guys go in a building is someone getting hurt," he said.