Coaldale Fire Department said goodbye to a firetruck this weekend after finding a new owner through a raffle.

The winner of the raffle for the Mack pumper picked up the vehicle and drove it to his home in Bradford County following a drawing Friday night.

“It’ll be taken care of well, we were told,” said Fire Chief Steven Polischak.

The fire company took an unconventional approach to selling the pumper. They sold 200 raffle tickets for $100 each.

The tickets sold out in less than two weeks. People from 16 different states bought raffle tickets.

Coaldale bought a newer pre-owned pumper last fall. After 20 years in service, the Mack pumper needed a new home.

As they looked and looked for a buyer, they temporarily stored the truck in a commercial garage and American Fire Co. No. 1 in Lansford.

They had heard about another Schuylkill County Fire Company that sold raffle chances to win a retired firetruck.

Coaldale decided to do their own and announced raffle ticket sales last month. It took less than two weeks to sell all 100.

“We were hoping it went quick, and it did,” Polischak said.

Tickets were sold to buyers in states including Louisiana, Illinois and Arizona. There were also a few dozen Carbon and Schuylkill residents.

Several people bought more than one ticket, and one person bought four.

The ticket buyers included people interested in the history of the truck and antique firetruck collectors. Firetruck collectors are a small but very dedicated group.

“If you’re going to be a collector of firetrucks, you’re all in. You’re not going in a little,” Polischak said.

Some people from the region were interested in the truck because it was manufactured by Mack in Allentown. There was also some interest from people in Eastern Salisbury, Lehigh County, where the truck had been used prior to Coaldale buying it in 1999.

The raffle took place Friday night, with the fire department streaming it on Facebook Live. During the drawing, some of the numbered chips tried to escape the hopper. The firefighters lived up to their reputation and improvised to get the job done.

“It was all fun. We got it mixed up and we were able to pull a winner out,” Polischak said.

Terry Selleck of Bradford County was chosen from the 200 entries. He bought one entry, which turned out to be the winner.

Selleck collects firetrucks, Polischak said. He’s converted one into a tow truck and another into a camper. But he told the department that the pumper will remain in its current form.

Polischak said he’d recommend a truck raffle to any fire department that is unable to find a buyer for one of their vehicles.

“There’s definitely interest out there. Some of them may not want to spend a couple grand on an antique firetruck, but they’ll buy a $100 raffle ticket to potentially buy one,” he said.