Long standing readers of NfMH will know that I commonly use the designation Engine 68 in my writings. Engine 68 is entirely a creation of my imagination, using experiences and impressions from my days on the engine as well as my interactions with other fire units. The 68 is simply a random number from my past, taken from a favorite ambulance once ridden with a good friend.
Imagine how tickled I was today to read the story of Baltimore City Engine 68 in Fire Apparatus Journal:
Baltimore City has rebuilt the 1993 Pierce . . .that was the first Pierce to go into service in Baltimore. . . Reserve Engine 68 was wrecked in an accident, so the department rebuilt Engine 60 using parts from several dead-lined pumpers and put it back into reserve service [as] Engine 68.
I’m not much of a Pierce fan nor am I interested in the Baltimore FD, but the notion of a real Engine 68 constructed of parts of other engines fits right in here. Life imitating art and all that stuff. . .
Notes from Mosquito Hill 