Pelham sells fire truck on eBay

This story appeared in the Union LLeader on May 23, 2007 and was written by JIM DEVINE.

PELHAM – Engine 3, a 1985 Ford 9000 fire truck with a leaky 1,500-gallon tank, has been out of service and idle, parked at the department since last fall.

Now it's completing a trip of more than 2,000 miles for a second tour of duty at a volunteer fire department in Monterrey, Mexico.

Volunteer firefighters in the Mexican city bought the 22-year-old truck for a steal of $4,201 from on eBay.

And while Pelham has lost its truck, the town has gained some friends.

The day after Lt. Ray Cashman put the engine up for bid on eBay, he got a call from Sylvia Ruiz in Monterrey, who wanted to buy the truck outright. Since a bid process had to be followed, the auction continued, with Ruiz coming out as the top bidder, Cashman said.

Last week, Ruiz's son Antonio came to Pelham to complete the details of the purchase.

"The son flew out from Mexico and was here on Thursday morning," Cashman said. "We went over the truck showed him how everything worked and he did the paperwork."

Ruiz hit it off with local firefighters, Cashman said.

So much so, that the Ruiz family has been invited back next winter for the department's firefighter's ball.

Ruiz orginally intended to drive the truck back, but the trip was cut short when a brush fire kicked up back home, forcing Ruiz to head back before he could take the trek across the country with his father. Instead Ruiz set up plans to have the truck hauled back to Mexico.

The eBay transaction not only maintained Cashman's perfect feedback score on the auction site, but also fetched more than the $3,000 trade-in offer a manufacturer gave the Pelham department when it looked at new truck leasing options.

Cashman said most manufacturers wouldn't offer a trade-in and the town discovered eBay as an appropriate bid system when it sold Engine 6 for $1,900 on line last year.

The truck was put up for sale after the department decided not to fix multiple problems, including a poor-performing pump and 1,500-gallon leaking tank.