Webb City Fire Chief Jess Gordon and his assistant, Goss Blanchard, called the Joplin Globe in 1968 to show off the department’s new van.
The van was purchased by the city for use as both an emergency rescue unit and a code enforcement truck. It was purchased and equipped with money obtained from the sale of a 1939 fire truck, which had not been used for some time.
The new vehicle was equipped with an oxygen unit and other emergency equipment.