Former Villisca fire truck finds new life in Colorado

One of Villisca’s former firetrucks has found new life in Colorado.

The truck, which was built for the Villisca Fire Department in November, 1925, is currently owned by John Bergquist, an Omaha native who currently lives in Loveland, Colo., having moved there in 1969.

Bergquist said he obtained the truck through a trade.

“I got out of the service in 1953, bought a Model T touring car and a 1923 Buick, and in 1955, I traded the Buick to another gentleman in Omaha who had recovered the firetruck from a junkyard in Villisca,” Bergquist said.

According to his records, the truck went from the Villisca Fire Department to the Grant Fire Department before it was discarded in the junkyard and later recovered. After obtaining the truck, Bergquist said his first priority was restoring it.

“I worked to get it restored, and had it at the May Day parade at the University of Omaha in 1955,” said Bergquist.

Bergquist said the chassis was initially bought by members of the Villisca Fire Department through the J.M. Opper Motor Company for $675. The chassis was built in Landsing, Mich. and shipped to Indiana where the body was constructed.

“The truck was built as a twin chemical tank fire truck. There was no pump. I have the initial orders from the companies that built the chassis and the body. After the truck was built, it likely would have been shipped by train from Indiana to the fire department in Villisca.”

Bergquist is uncertain whether the truck is the first that was put to use by Villisca’s Fire Department. Bergquist restored the truck to its original state when in service with the Villisca Fire Department. Currently, the truck is housed in Bergquist’s garage, and he said he is in the process of completing more work to the truck to bring it back to operational.

“I used to drive it around locally. It’s not running right now, due to a bad engine, but it will be running again shortly. I’ve driven it in all sorts of parades in Nebraska before I moved out here. My son is going to be traveling here to help me with getting the truck running again. I have an extra motor for it and we’re going to start the process of rebuilding it,” commented Bergquist.

Bergquist said he has owned a total of 233 antique fire trucks, and has sold them all over the world.

“I’ve been in the antique vehicle business for over 60 years. I sent 11 fire trucks to a collector in England, and a half a dozen others in Switzerland, Japan, and Australia, in addition to cars.”

Bergquist said the Villisca truck is very special to him.

“When my wife Nancy and I got married in Omaha, I had the truck in a garage where no one could get to it. After the ceremony, we came out of the church and found the truck outside waiting for us. Somehow they had gotten the truck out of my garage for us, and I have photos of my wife and I going around downtown Omaha on the truck,” said Bergquist.

In 1958, Bergquist made a special trip back to Villisca with the fire truck.

“That year, Villisca celebrated its 100-year celebration. I worked with a guy named Jimmy Chew from Villisca, who was in Omaha with me. He got the guys from Villisca to come to Omaha to pick up the truck and take it to Villisca for that celebration and it was a part of the parade.”

In 2009, Bergquist was made an honorary member of the Villisca Fire Department for his efforts to preserve the fire truck, and his membership was later renewed.

“I have the hat, the badge, and the jacket from the fire department, and I’ve been to Villisca many times, and I’ve also been to Grant to visit as well,” Bergquist said.

More recently, Bergquist said the fire truck has been used in the local parade in Loveland.

“I’m in a bagpipe band, so we used the truck to transport our bagpipes, and my son drove the truck in the parade, and picked us up at the end in the truck and brought us home,” said Bergquist.

In addition to his own wedding, Bergquist said the fire truck has made appearances in numerous other weddings, and he considers it part of the family.

“My son and his wife were married on it, my daughter and her husband were married on it, and my granddaughter and her husband were married on it. We’ve taken it to every wedding.”