Like pets that find their way home after being lost, some vehicles seem to end up back where they started. The Shawnee Fire Department has two.

The oldest is its 1930 REO firetruck. The REO served as a pumper in the department until it was sold in 1955. It was used in an orchard for years and eventually ended up at an auction in 1990. The Shawnee name could still be seen under layers of paint. After Gary Montague, Shawnee city manager, and some members of the fire department verified that this truck was indeed one originally owned by the department, the city bought it.

 Restoring the truck became a community effort. Vic Macek, a mechanic and REO owner himself, was most helpful, Montague said. Joe Magyar chaired the restoration committee and obtained private donations. Groups too numerous to mention donated time, money and greasy hands as the truck was completely disassembled, cleaned and rebuilt. Many of the original body panels were in such bad shape that new ones had to be fabricated. The planks of hickory used for the undercarriage were replaced with oak. The restoration took about two years to complete.

 Shawnee's REO fire truck is an award-winning restoration. Bob Lamons, who has been a Shawnee volunteer fireman for 48 years, is the truck's primary caretaker. He hauls it to shows and exhibits in an enclosed trailer and babies it as if it were his own.

 In January, a 1954 American LaFrance pumper built on a Ford chassis came back to the department as a gift from the fire department in Bynamville, Mo., about 120 east of Kansas City. The Shawnee Fire Department bought the truck new, but sold it to Bynamville in 1981. Since Bynamville no longer used the truck for fighting fires, the city gave the truck back to Shawnee as a gesture of goodwill.