PEABODY — Walking into Roger Baker’s garage in Peabody it is like stepping into a Swampscott fire station in 1930. This is because the Swampscott native has built a mock fire station, complete with a 1935 Swampscott fire truck, right in his garage.
“We’ve recreated a little fire station here with a tin roof and the old-fashioned lights, chalkboard, the old radio,” Baker said.
On the wall hangs an old map of Swampscott, as well as a notice for mutual aid that he said is “dated appropriately.” There is also an old ticker tape machine that was used to notify departments of fires in town.
The Engine 2 truck sitting in his garage was purchased by the town all those years ago for $7,000. This was a lot of money at the time, he said, because of the Great Depression.
Baker also currently has another Swampscott fire truck from the 1930s sitting in his driveway. This one, he said, is different because it hasn’t been fixed up like the other one. As a result, he is asking for someone who currently lives in Swampscott and can afford to restore the truck to its former glory to make him an offer.
“I would like to repatriate that truck back to someone who lives in Swampscott and has the resources to do some restoration,” Baker said. “It belongs back there.”
Both of the trucks responded to the New Ocean House Hotel fire of 1969, he said. They were being used for auxiliary purposes at the time.
Baker still actively collects old Swampscott fire trucks. His most recent purchase is one from 1981, which is currently having repairs done.
Collecting and restoring old Swampscott fire trucks isn’t the only thing Baker does in the firefighting world. He is also the founder of Rehab Five, a rehabilitation service for first responders when they are on the scene of a fire.
“Rehab Five provides all the resources necessary to protect first responders from the physical demands associated with firefighting along with the environmental hazards (extreme heat and cold), which can create conditions which have an adverse impact on first responders’ health and safety,” rehabfive.org said.
Baker’s interest in fire trucks and the field of firefighting began when he was just a child.
“I remember being at the fire station chasing fire trucks,” Baker said.
He recalled one Halloween night when he was kid and there was a fire that the Swampscott Fire Department responded to.
“I drove my bike down to watch them and the fire captain says ‘Oh, you’re not riding the bike home at midnight on Halloween,’ so they threw my bike on the back of that truck and I stood on the back step with two firemen on either side of it all the way they drove me home,” Baker said.
