Donation of Engine to Preston, Missouri

Saturday, May 6, 2023

On April 7, 2023, the Rehoboth Beach Volunteer Fire Company signed a contract to purchase a new engine to replace their 1995 one. At the signing they knew the deliver time for the new truck would be approximately three years. The intention was to keep the 1995 engine in reserve until the new truck was close to delivery. That was the plan until they learned of a volunteer fire company in Preston Missouri who had lost its main response engine due to an accident, where their truck was totaled. The Village of Preston, Missouri, population 157, is in a rural faming and cattle ranch area located in Hickory County, in central Missouri. The Preston Volunteer Fire Department has been serving their community for over 38 years. They are a rural, hard pressed, volunteer fire company. They have two other used fire trucks they acquired over the years. One is a tanker and the other is a 4WD field fire, pick up, they acquired from the Indian River Volunteer Fire Company. When Rehoboth’s Fire Chief, Chuck Snyder, heard of Preston’s plight he contacted Preston’s Fire Chief, Brain Bennett, to offer the Rehoboth engine to them. He sent them pictures and specifications. At the May 3rd, Rehoboth Fire Company meeting, the fire company members voted unanimously to send the Rehoboth truck to Preston. They also voted to add some excess firefighting equipment to the truck for Preston to use. When contacted with the news, the Preston Fire Chief and some of his members left Missouri and drove to Rehoboth Beach. On Saturday morning, May 6th, Rehoboth Engine 86-4 left Rehoboth Beach and headed for its new home in Preston, Missouri. There is a fire service slogan coined many years, which is “Neighbor helping Neighbor.” In this case to quote Chief Snyder, “This is one volunteer fire company helping another in their time a need. We are proud to help the Preston Volunteer Fire Company.”

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