The thrilling story of the MA57 that started after 80 years

An abandoned 1938 fire engine who refuses to die. Eight firefighters and a art restorer. Titanic will and passion. The vehicle, abandoned, reopens after almost a century. This story is more than just a story about a barn find and it is 100% Greek...

The diary says 30 January 1940. In Greece, which has been covered by the clouds of war reaches a ultramodern staircase vehicle of the Magirus. The scheme Metaxa sees the storm coming and, just before the storm breaks out, he Greek-Italian War, in addition to the Army, prepares the general defence of the country. This fire engine, along with a few others, is being purchased as part of the operational planning to extinguish fires that would be caused by bombing large urban centres of our country. 

The MA57 is currently under restoration

Nine months later, war breaks out.

In the horror and fire of war, the MA57, the staircase with the ladder of 26 metres used. Until it is abandoned and found in a private yard, exposed to the sun, rain, snow. 

Fast forward, 80 years later. A team of firefighters from the 1st Fire Station of Thessaloniki, with the help of Firefighting Workshop of Thessaloniki and a conservator of works of art provided by the Ephorate of Antiquities of Thessaloniki, το “ανακαλύπτει”, σχεδόν διαλυμένο και αποφασίζει to save it. The nine-member team works voluntarily, after the end of her shift, in her free time, with out-of-pocket expenses of its members to resurrect it. And, a few days before these lines are written, it achieves the unthinkable: Get it going. Yes, the monster, reopens, after almost a century. Just refuses to die. The moment when the Magirus restarts after 80 yearsit's just shocking...

The team is restoring the vehicle to be as it was 80 years ago

ΒΙΝΤΕΟ: Το Magirus ΠΣ57 “βήχει” και ξανάρχεται στη ζωή, σκορπώντας χαμόγελα στους “διασώστες” του και συγκίνηση σε εμάς: 

The effort required is Titania. The firefighters, with very Love and a lot of Work move on, without any help. Για εμάς, η “ανάσταση” του ΠΣ57 συμβολίζει the miracles that we Greeks can do when we are united and we have a passion and an appetite for work. 

Rotgut everywhere, of course

Ο head of the team που ανέλαβε την αναπαλαίωση του “charming“, όπως το χαρακτηρίζει, οχήματος, Leonidas Kynigopoulos, reports in TopSpeed.gr ότι “πολλά στοιχεία, για την υπηρεσιακή πορεία του οχήματος, δεν έχουμε, επειδή έχει χαθεί το μητρώο του και είμαστε στη διαδικασία συγκέντρωσης, όσο το δυνατόν, περισσότερων Information, για την πορεία του, μέσα στο πέρασμα των χρόνων”.

The work required is not only hard, but also delicate, not to destroy the only staircase

As Mr. Kynigopoulos explains, the staircase has year of manufacture 1938, but the supply of this and three other similar, was made by the Fire Brigade at 30 January 1940. This date refers to metal signwho is stuck in the engine compartment. The date of the commission is important, since it has been made by a German company, Magirus, 9 months before the outbreak of the Greek-Italian war. We must also pay special attention to the type of vehicles, of this commission. All four were staircases. From this, and from other evidence of the time, it can be concluded that the Metaxas regime, concerned about the developments of the time, was preparing the country's air defence, along with the army, for the possibility of war.  

Because it was left exposed to the climatic conditions, the wooden parts of the Magirus rotted

“Αυτές οι κλίμακες, για την εποχή τους, ήταν technologically were very advanced and we find this even today, all of us involved in restoration. Η philosophy of their operating systems, is not very different from the our modern staircases οχήματα” λέει ο κ. Κυνηγόπουλος και συνεχίζει: “Δυστυχώς, από τα τέσσερα οχήματα της προμήθειας εκείνης, only two have survived. The MA 56, which is located, restored, in the Fire Museum of Athens and the second one is, FP57 and it's what we have in our hands here in Thessaloniki. Τα υπόλοιπα δύο έχουν καταστραφεί”.

Εντυπωσιακό το ΠΣ57, άντεξε στο χρόνο. Του αξίζει να “ζήσει”

Σε ό,τι αφορά το συγκεκριμένο όχημα, τουλάχιστον με βάση τα στοιχεία που υπάρχουν ως τώρα, δεν γνωρίζουμε πότε έπαψε να προσφέρει έργο στην Πυροσβεστική Υπηρεσία Θεσσαλονίκης. Ξέρουμε όμως, ότι καθ’ όλη τη δεκαετία του 1990, was decommissioned and exposed to climatic conditions, in the area of the old fire brigade of Thessaloniki.

“Στις αρχές της δεκαετίας του 2000, an attempt was made to restore it, but it was not organized and was fatal for the vehicle“, μας λέει ο επικεφαλής της ομάδας των πυροσβεστών. “Αφού υποβλήθηκε σε sandblasting, then was abandoned, for five years approximately, in a private vehicle yard. There, Stripped from the data, such as e.g. coloring, which until then had protected it from the climatic conditions, began to erode, as a result, the its wooden surfaceswhich are many, to rot, but also the its metallic elements To drown in rust. 

Members of the team at work

Fortunately, some colleagues from the 6th Fire Station of Thessaloniki, they searched for the vehicle and after they transferred it from the private, they placed it in covered warehouse of the Fire Station, in the Sindo. So the destruction stopped and remained in this place, waiting patiently, another 10 years. So that's where we discovered it and decided, even though it was in a deplorable stateto give it life again, a life life he deserves, since managed to stay standing, after 80 years old adventures.

The firefighters restore the vehicle in their free time, at their own expense. Bravo!

Right now, καταβάλουμε μια τιτάνια προσπάθεια, κόντρα στα αρχικά, αρνητικά,  προγνωστικά. I must point out that all our team members are working on the vehicle, in their free time, voluntarily and with a lot of passion. 

The problems we face, it's enough, but with perseverance and appetite for work, we manage and we overcome them. But the years are hard και  το μεγαλύτερο πρόβλημά μας, είναι η funding. Until now, we proceed at our own expense και ευελπιστούμε ότι  με τις επαφές που κάνουμε, αλλά και με τη δημοσιότητα που δίνουμε, θα μπορέσουμε to ensure, some financial assistance, which is necessary, for the purchase of consumable technical equipment“.

And, when the work of the nine-member team is completed, what is the future of the historical vehicle; After the completion of the restoration, the vehicle will be displayed, in a prominent position and in roofed space, near in the First Station of Thessaloniki, on older in history, a station of the city, but with the newest Fire Station Building στην Ελλάδα, στο  ιστορικό κέντρο της Thessaloniki. 

The position of TopSpeed.gr is that this is an effort that worth, not only love, but also moral and material support όλων μας. Γιατί δεν πρέπει να τα περιμένουμε όλα από το Κράτος. Γιατί το καλό, πρέπει να επιβραβεύεται…

The MA 57 Facebook page is this . Support the effort!!!!

The Facebook page of Topspeed.gr is this

Tip: We thank Mr. Leonidas Kynigopoulos for the photos, the videosand the data he gave us to do this report