It all started with a search for a utility trailer.
Patagonia resident Rick Small was looking for a utility trailer to buy on Facebook Marketplace when (oddly enough) a fire engine popped up in the search results.
“Hmm,” thought Small. Though he didn’t know anything about fire trucks, it seemed like a high-capability vehicle at a very good price. And it was close by, in Marana.
Small sent a copy of the listing in a message to the Patagonia Volunteer Fire & Rescue Facebook page, and said that if the department wanted to pursue it, he would make a donation for the purchase price.
Brianna Young Hubbell, daughter of longtime PVFR volunteer and current board member Michael Young, had recently taken over as admin of the department Facebook page, and saw the message almost immediately.
“Hey Dad,” she said to Young, “someone wants to buy us a fire truck!”
In an enthusiastic phone call with Small, Young confirmed that the 1999 E-ONE Cyclone fire engine “would advance our capabilities by 15 years.”
Young and Small met over the weekend to work out details for a proposal to the PVFR board. After confirming with the seller on Monday that the vehicle was still available, the department board called a special meeting the next day. They unanimously voted Yes to accept Small’s proposal and send a team to fully inspect the truck.
That Friday, Oct. 3, Young drove to Marana with Nick DiNuzio, PVFR Fleet Manager, and his wife, Gabby, who own P-Town Auto & Offroad on Harshaw Avenue. They drove back with the new fire engine.
Better than expected
The engine had been in service as standby safety equipment at Skydive Marana, so it hadn’t seen a lot of heavy use. The skydiving company was selling it because they had recently been awarded a contract to train paratroopers for the Army, which meant jet planes would be landing at their airstrip. The company replaced this truck with several aircraft rescue and fire fighting (ARFF) fire engines designed for aviation emergencies.
Before Skydive Marana purchased it at auction last year, the truck had been in the fleet of Mountain View Fire Rescue, which operates in Boulder County, CO, on an annual budget of over $100 million. The truck did not meet Colorado emissions requirements, so Mountain View sent it to Brindlee Mountain Fire Apparatus in Alabama to refurbish and sell.
The original motor and transmission were replaced with a 2014 Cummins engine and Allison transmission, which have had only 1554 hours of operation since then.
Brindlee originally listed the truck at $100,000, but it didn’t sell. Mountain View Fire Rescue took it back, and ultimately put it up for auction, where Skydiving Marana bought it.
The aviation park had received an earlier inquiry from a fire training school in North Carolina. But when the PVFR team arrived with check in hand, they were thrilled that a local volunteer fire department would be the new home for the truck.
The original listed price was $34,900, but Young’s and DiNuzio’s detailed inspection revealed that a few things were missing, and that it needed new front tires. Young negotiated the price down to $30,000 to leave funds for the additional parts.
Young and the PVFR team are especially enthused about the fire engine’s great lighting system. It has super-bright LED scene lights around the tank, which illuminate a 360-degree area. In addition, it has a remote-controlled boom light on top that can be directed wherever needed.
“The system lit up the whole P-Town yard like daylight when we tried it out,” Young said. “The lights will definitely help our crews do their jobs in both fire and accident situations. They’ll help keep them and victims safe.”
Who buys a fire truck?
After starting the ball rolling with his Facebook discovery, Rick Small is delighted with how everything turned out.
Small is a native of Tucson, and came to love Patagonia through frequent family visits to see his aunt, Sally Greenleaf, who still lives above Harshaw Avenue. After Small’s mother, Susan (Sally’s sister), passed away last year, Rick decided to make Patagonia his home and help manage Greenleaf’s property. “I love Patagonia’s strong feeling of community and inclusion,” he said.
Greenleaf moved to Patagonia from Tucson several decades ago, after her husband passed away and her children went off to college. She cultivated a robust organic garden, and sold her produce to Red Mountain Foods and at farmers’ markets. She was very involved with the Patagonia library, and other organizations in town.
Small has been tuned into community service his whole life, influenced by both of his parents. His father, Bill Small, was in the Tucson newspaper business from the 1930s to the 1970s, and owned both the Tucson Citizen and Arizona Daily Star.
Bill and Susan were dedicated philanthropists. Rick remembers his father saying many times, “It’s a responsibility for people who have means to help those who are less fortunate.”
Bill was an enthusiastic modern art collector as well, who supported up-and-coming artists. He left an enormous trove of paintings that were disbursed to almost four dozen museums after his death. Susan’s chief passions and beneficiaries included the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Tucson Botanical Gardens, and Tucson Symphony.
Bill and Susan set up the private Stonewall Foundation in 1966, which focused on community needs, conservation, and supporting the arts in Tucson and southern Arizona. After Bill’s death in 1994, Rick and his mother ran the Stonewall Foundation, which donated over $50 million to southern Arizona organizations in its forty-plus years. In 2021, the Stonewall Foundation was folded into the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona as a donor-advised fund.
In addition to his foundation work, Small taught third grade for a while, raised grass-fed beef and lamb in Willcox, hosted his own show on KXCI radio, and coordinated environmental education for Tucson Botanical Gardens.
“I’m a networker,” Small said. “I listen to people, hear what they need, and follow up. I aspire to be an ‘earth angel,’ a quiet positive force making a difference in people’s lives, on my own terms. I was glad to be able to do this for the fire department and town.”
Patagonia Volunteer Fire & Rescue’s new fire truck is currently behind P-Town waiting for some additional lighting parts and new front tires. When it’s ready, PVFR will retire its 40-year-old green Engine #3. The new truck will be christened in honor of Sally Greenleaf, and will take its place in the PVFR station.