In 1956, the department bought a ten-year-old used Jeep CJ2A and converted it to a light rescue and mobile electrical power plant. BHVFD had purchased a 10KW power take-off generator, and installed it in the rear of the Jeep. Four large floodlights were mounted on the roll bar, and small rescue tools like pry bars and hacksaws were stocked along with a hand-pumped Porto-Power spreader set. These were supplemental to the most useful vehicle rescue tool, the front-mounted power winch. The conversion work was done entirely by members of the department. Though Bower Hill did not (and still does not) respond to many motor vehicle collisions with entrapment, the old Jeep became a major resource vehicle because of its electrical generating capacity. While today, most fire apparatus have some sort of generator or inverter, in the 1950s, that was almost entirely unknown. The four-wheel drive capability also made it possible to take the electrical generator almost anywhere.

We don't have a photo of Bower Hill's 1946 Jeep, but we did find a 1946 Jeep advertisement. If anyone has a picture of Bower Hill's Jeep, please let us know.