WEST HAVEN, Aug. 31, 2023 — (Pictured): An 1889 Button Crane Neck hand pumper is unloaded and moved by Tony Capuano, the West Haven Fire Department’s superintendent of apparatus, rear, to a new display in the foyer of the Robert A. Johnson Community Center at 201 Noble St. on Thursday, Aug. 31.
To accommodate the large hand pumper, crews had to remove the center’s six-panel front window before the apparatus was carefully unloaded from a wrecker provided by Bruneau’s Garage.
Capuano was assisted by Councilman Robert Bruneau, D-9, who owns the West Haven garage, and retired West Haven fire Lt. William Heffernan III, the department’s historian.
The antique hand pumper, formerly operated by the department’s Engine & Hose Company 1, was part of a fire service exhibit in the former Savin Rock Museum at 6 Rock St. for many years.
City officials are looking to convert a portion of the Johnson center into a museum to house old Savin Rock Park and fire service memorabilia.
(City Photo/Michael P. Walsh)
