An historic fire engine continues to be restored by groups around Flower Mound.
During Monday’s Flower Mound Town Council meeting, The Summit Club and the Flower Mound Firefighters Foundation presented a check to Julian Pastrama, a Flower Mound firefighter leading the restoration effort of Fire Engine 343.
The money was raised by The Summit Club, which sold hams at an event ahead of Good Friday.
“The Summit Club has been a champion of this restoration project for years,” said Bryan Webb, a former Summit Club president and current advisor. “Two years ago, we reached out to Julian with a fundraising idea – and that’s how Hams for 343 began.”
Last year, the group sold 64 smoked hams. This year, it sold another 50.
Additional funds were collected in a donation bucket.
“The Summit Club has been a huge support for this project,” said Pastrama. “We’re trying to continue to restoration efforts – we’ve done a lot over the last 12 years, but there is still a lot that needs to be done.”
In 1975, Fire Engine 343 became the first emergency vehicle acquired by the Flower Mound Fire Department.
The apparatus is a 1942 Mack Fire Engine and Flower Mound FD bought it from the U.S. Department of Defense.
After it sat in a field for 30 years, Pastrama and his team pulled it out in 2012 in hopes of getting it back up and running – and beautified.
So far, Pastrama said him and his team have fixed up the engine, the transmission and tires, making it drivable.
“Everything else just needs to be made pretty now,” he said.
Although the fire truck was given the identification No. 343 however many years ago, it has become very significant today.
It is the same number of firefighters that were lost during the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
“Our efforts in rebuilding this engine are not only for the town, but to commemorate firefighters and first responders all over the nation,” said Pastrama.
To learn more about, or contribute to, the restoration efforts of Fire Engine 343, visit the project’s website.
The Summit Club said it will host another “Hams for 343” event on March 26, 2027.
For more information on The Summit Club and its upcoming events, visit the organization’s website.
