Antique fire trucks from far and wide at Cooper River Park

Retired Camden City firefighter Bill Bain introduced his daughter-in-law - "Have you met Saint Janet," he asked, hugging Janet Bain.

"You have to be a saint to put up with all this," he said, laughing as Janet Bain grinned. She'd heard that before.

The all this indicated by Bill Bain - eight fire trucks, all shiny, and on display for a national antique fire truck convention Saturday at Cooper River Park - wasn't actually all of the all this.

The all is the 23 fire trucks, plus a few military vehicles, that Janet's husband, Camden firefighter Joel Bain owns, refurbishes, loves, and houses, sardinelike, in a warehouse in South Camden.

"These are big-boy toys," Joel Bain said, sounding only slightly sheepish, even though his hobby occupies nearly every nonworking hour.

Bain, two of his three children, and some friends drove the eight trucks to Cooper River Park in Pennsauken for Saturday's "National Muster," the term firefighters and collectors use for the gathering of fire trucks and equipment, accompanied by a firefighting-themed flea market.

Bain's trucks were among more than 130 at the park - some from as far as Minnesota and some, like the 1898 hose cart brought by the Neptune Hose No. 5 fire company in Burlington County, dating back more than a century.

The muster was the highlight of the five-day 2013 summer convention of the Society for the Preservation and Appreciation of Antique Motor Fire Apparatus in America - a hefty name, which is why the members just call it SPAAMFAA, kind of like the meat product.

Several years ago, the local Cradle of Liberty chapter, formed in 2008, successfully petitioned to host the 2013 convention.

The event was a homecoming of sorts - for some of the trucks. Back in town for a visit was a 1941 Hahn fire engine that, until 1981, belonged to the Westmont Fire Department.

"I trained on that truck," said Chief John Medes.

When the department replaced it with a 1966 Hahn, the manufacturer took it back and eventually sold it to Earl Warehime of Manchester, Md.

"It's a toy," drawled Warehime.

On Friday night, the truck paid a visit to Westmont's fire station, where it got a warm welcome home by 25 department members.

The 1966 Hahn was also replaced and is now owned by Westmont Fire Capt. John Young.

The company brought its 1929 Ahrens-Fox truck to Saturday's festival.

In this crowd, Ahrens-Fox trucks are known as the Rolls-Royces of fire trucks. This one was spectacular, with a silver, globe-shaped pressure dome in the front. "We use it for a hearse if a firefighter passes away," Medes said.

Much has changed over the years, said chapter president Bill Anderson, of Essington, a retired firefighter who has worked in Ridley and Tinicum Townships in Delaware County.

The antique trucks at the muster mostly have tailboards on the backs and sides where the firefighters used to ride, Anderson said.

"Riding on the tailboard, going to a real fire, standing on the back of the truck with the lights and the siren and you're all pumped up - that's all history," Anderson sighed.

Saturday's event, which included music by the Metro Vancouver Firefighters' Band, from Canada, followed a busy week of events along with receptions at the host hotel, the Holiday Inn in Cherry Hill.

On Thursday, for example, there was a tour of the KME-Kovatch fire apparatus factory in upstate Pennsylvania, and a pump maintenance seminar.

Friday's lineup featured tours of the Fireman's Hall Museum hosted by the Philadelphia Fire Department.

On Sunday, the last day, the Firefighters Museum of Southern New Jersey will be open.