Engine 2: Back in the late 1970s, early 1980s, I had Hollis, NH in my scanner. At that time Hollis and Milford, NH were on the same frequency. Mont Vernon is dispatched by Milford. On my scanner Hollis came in loud and clear but I could not pick up Milford's dispatches. However, due to Mont Vernon's location on top of the hill, I could pick up Mont Vernon FD's mobiles. I would not hear the dispatch but I could hear Mont Vernon clearly. One night I was listening when I heard "563 responding" (the '48 Mack was Engine 563),then "563 on the scene", etc. I thought that it was unusual not to hear the first out engines 561 or 562. Apparently, the call was minor because 563 returned shortly. End of story. A week or so later I was reading the local paper and in the Mont Vernon news there was a little article about the MVFD having had some apparatus problems. The article mentioned that recently there had been a fire call and only one engine was available to respond. I thought back to the night that I had heard 563 only responding and I guessed that was the answer to my question. I'm not 100% sure that it was referring to the same call that I heard but I believe that it was. Moral of the story: Nothing stopped the rugged little "Type 45", whether it was on duty in Billerica or Mont Vernon.
