MORRISTOWN, Tenn. — A firefighter in Hamblen County has a mission to preserve the history of the Morristown Fire Department.
Danny Case has several mementos decorating the walls of his office, making it look more like a museum. His thousands of relics represent decades of fire service history, in Morristown and beyond.
The Morristown Fire Department was established in 1896. However, Case's collection is even older. He has some artifacts from the late-1700s. Case has been in the fire service since 1987. He said his love for the show "Emergency" in his youth inspired him to pursue a career as a firefighter.
"It's a passion," Case said. "It became a dream that came true. I tried for ten years to get into the fire department. It took me ten years to get on."
Once he joined the team in Morristown, he never left. That's also when his passion for collecting fire department relics began.
"Right after I got on city-Morristown, my dad bought me a nozzle back he found in New York. From that time on, I started looking for this, looking for that ... Dad found me a patch here, Mom, a patch there," Case said. "People start buying me patches, and it just grew."
To this day, Case said he has more than 1,500 patches from fire departments across the country. He said they run about $6 a patch.
The patches are just a portion of his collection. Case pointed out several other unique finds over the years that have made it into his office.
His favorite is a 1937 American LaFrance bell. It came off a Harrison, New York Tiller truck. Case said back in the day, people could tell exactly which truck was coming based on the bell.
Case also has dozens of helmets in his office museum — some metal, some leather, and some mixed. They too span the century.
"It is just awesome to be the caretaker of this stuff, to preserve the history of the fire department, and pass it on to somebody else," Case said.
In addition to the bell, helmets, and patches, Case has about 100 nozzles from fire trucks. He pointed out one that looked similar to the one his father gifted him more than 20 years ago.
The biggest bit of history that Case has been a part of restoring is a 1916 firetruck. It was the first-ever firetruck for the city. Case helped get it back into working condition.
More than 100 years ago, the City of Morristown spent $9,000 on a piece of machinery that changed an industry. It was a 1916 American La France. It was $9,000 in 191, and Case said in 2023 it'd be more than $250,000 now.
Morristown's first fire truck replaced the fire department's previous mode of transportation — a horse and buggy. The truck was retired in the 1950s when truck technology started to advance.
It was recovered by Case and a group of others in a wooded area in 2010. It was at that moment he decided to start restoring it.
"We have worked 13 years on getting the truck up and running," Case said. "Now, you'd be driving down the road and people are honking, waving, and taking videos because they hadn't seen something like this before."
Around 127 years of Morristown Fire Department history is what Case wants to keep alive. He hopes his office museum serves as that educational outlet.
"Once I'm passed away, hopefully, we will have someplace to put it and continue letting people see it," Case said.
If you would like to donate to Morristown's First Fire Truck Fund, visit their Facebook Page.