In the spring of 2009, the village of Eagle located on the banks of the yukon river, was hit with a devastating flood.  Most of the village structures ended up under several feet of water.  Along with homes and businesses, the fire hall took heavy water damage and ruined the communty's only water tanker making it impossible for the fire department to effectively fight a structure fire.   At the time,  Steese had a reserve tanker that was in storage.   In 1979, Steese purchased the 2500 gallon Western star tanker for the newly formed Steese Fire service area.   For over thirty years T-61 provided a valuable service to the residents of the fire service.   After hearing about all the devistation that took place in Eagle,  the Administration and the Commisioners wanted to help.  The commission came to an agreement and after an approval from the borough, Tanker 61 would once again be on the frontline providing a vital role in protecting a community.

Once the arrangements were made,  the Fairbanks North Star Borough Maintenance Shop went through the truck and prepared it for its new home.   Once the truck cleared the shop,  Steese volunteers equipped the truck with basic equipment to be able to go into service upon its arrival to Eagle.

As soon as the truck was ready to go,  Steese Volunteer Fire Department life members, Dick Ritchie and Lee Hazen prepared the truck for their trip to Eagle.  This trip was extra special to these gentlemen who also started in 1979 alongside T-61.  All putting in over 30 years of dedicated service.   After fueling up the truck,   the 5 hour trip was flawless.  After arriving in Eagle, Hazen and Ritchie trained the Eagle Fire Department Volunteers on the truck.    A local airline donated flights to the Steese Volunteers to return home.