RESTORED
FIRE ENGINE • Nephi engine No. 1, has been
restored by Duane Painter of Nephi. The engine
will be kept in the Brough Building west of the
DUP museum in Nephi.
By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
The antique Nephi City fire engine has been restored
to its former glory and will now reside in the historic
Brough building just west of the DUP museum, as a primary
part of the DUP equipment museum.
Duane Painter, who has done the restoration work,
presented Nephi City Council members with a photo of the
engine and with a brief history which will be kept with the
photo.
"The 1926 REO Speed Wagon antique fire engine was
difficult to get running," said Painter.
He said he and a half-dozen friends, including his
father, worked on the engine to get it back in running
conditions.
"I didn't want to do any body work on it," said
Painter.
That was, he said, because he wanted it to remain
historic. It was difficult to get engine parts for an engine
as old as it is but he had found a few available. Mostly,
however, he got the engine shipshape with what he had.
Painter showed the council a photos of the engine they
day he and brother, Blair Painter, had pulled it out of the
station. He then showed them a photo taken at the
fairgrounds once the engine was restored.
In 1928, E.R. Shaw became the fire chief, said
Painter. He served until 1948.
In the early morning of Sept. 8, 1843, the REO Speed
Wagon was used on the Juab High School fire, said
Painter.
The building, constructed in 1922, was almost totally
destroyed by fire and crews from Payson, Spanish Fork, and
Mt. Pleasant fire departments were called on to help Nephi
fight the fire.
"This was the last fire the REO was used on, as far as
I can tell," said Painter.
He said the engine did not have much water storage
capacity but was very efficient at shooting water once
hooked up to a fire hydrant.
"It could shoot water across the street," he said. "It
had a good pump but it was not made to haul water."
The pump burned kerosene in the motor so it would not
get hot and could operate for a long period of time.
Painter said he had driven the engine through the Ute
Stampede Parade and had entered it into the Ute Stampede Car
Show where it always received a lot of favorable
interest.
He had also let several class reunions pose with the
old engine for photos.
Currently, he said, he is part of the volunteer group
restoring the old Brough building.
It has received a new concrete floor, new stucco and a
new roof. Local electrician, Tom Park, had rewired the
building.
"It is now secure," he said.
When Boy Scouts talk to him about what it means to be
a good citizen, said Chad Brough, mayor, he points to people
like Painter.
"Volunteer work makes it happen," said Brough.
One thing his brother had not said, Blair Painter told
the council, was that he had done the majority of the work
on the Brough building.
"We have had four Eagle Scout projects there," said
Duane Painter.
He told the city council he had enjoyed restoring the
engine which still remains city property.
Other museums had contacted him, said Brough, about
acquiring the engine for their displays. He always responded
that the engine belonged in Nephi, he said.
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