REVIEW: Old 76 Fire Fest 2024 [History Tour]

An Event Held in Independence, MO

No, this isn’t a spin-off of that thing where all the rich kids had dysentery for a few weeks on an island!

I have been pretty bad about getting History Tour posts on here in a timely manner, and while I have a break from school, I wanted to try to toss a few up! Today’s topic is going to be a small event my son and I attended this past summer held at the parking lot of the Cable Dahmer Arena, a large Hockey Arena for the Kansas City Mavericks. Held by a non-profit organization called the Independence 76 Fire Company, the event contained children’s activities including antique firetruck rides, firefighter demonstrations, a traveling museum of antique restored firetrucks from around the country, exhibits from local first responders in various topics, a huge firehose spraying water that kids could run through, and even a car show packed of of classic cars. This was something you could really spend a LOT of time at if you were so inclined, I think we ended up staying about an hour, and only left due to just how hot it was (this was in June afterall).

Cable Dahmer Arena, Independence, MO

I actually heard about this event at the Vaile Mansion Strawberry Festival, where the Fire Company had a small sign up on one of their prized restorations hyping the event. I took a flyer home and made sure to make a plan in case that weekend found its way open. The Vaile Mansion Strawberry Festival is something else I might do a short blog about, its; not necessarily got the most information available, but I will see what I can do!

Background:

Back in 2018, KSHB 41 News ran an article about the origins of the Independence 76 Fire Company, talking about how at that time the Independence, MO fire service was celebrating it’s 175th anniversary (it would be somewhere around 181 now!). The very first original Fire Station in the area was called the “Independence 76 Fire Company,” thus the name for the nonprofit. “The Independence Fire Department is celebrating a major milestone this year – its 175th Anniversary. Some firefighters are working hard to preserve the department’s history through a nonprofit. It’s called “Independence 76 Fire Company,” named for the first fire department in the city. They have restored several old fire trucks that they now use in parades and other fun family events.”

Around the same time, one of the big projects the company had taken part in was the completion of the restoration of the city’s first ever motorized pumper engine. An article on Fire Rescue 1 detail the process: “Twenty-five years ago, a group of metro area firefighters who restore and maintain historic fire vehicles embarked on their most extensive project — the Independence Fire Department’s first motorized pumper engine truck from 1928.” which also mentions a project that, at that time, was only in the beginning stages, but fully unveiled at the 2024 Fire Fest: “Now, the 76ers are in the midst of an equally arduous project. They’re polishing up a ladder truck from 1952, the department’s first truck with an attached ladder. It had left the city in 1975 and came back last year after a chance discovery in the small, northern Montana town of Glasgow.”

Reading:

I don’t really have much to offer here as I do not have a specific book on antique fire engines that I’ve read, nor am I honestly that hard-pressed to find one. What I will recommend is going through the social media pages for the Independence 76 Fire Company and see all the cool things they are up to throughout any given year.

Check out their Facebook page HERE

The Trip:

This venue is located basically on the intersection of I-70 and I-291/470, you really can’t miss it when driving down the highway. I am happy to live somewhat near it, so it was an easy drive for me!

Check out my slideshow below!

Conclusion:

While not a huge event, it was something very unique and a great thing to bring a kid to. I had fun looking at all the old historic firetrucks, and riding on one that looped around the arena was cool. The old tractors and cars were interesting (admittedly I’m not really a car guy though), and the booths were fun. I’d love to see this expand with more vendors and food trucks in the future, but what they had was a great way to spend part of a day. I’ll have to keep an eye out in 2025 and see if this ends up coming back!