Former fire engine is one hot smoker

Published 4:04 am Sunday, April 24, 2016

    Not everybody has the ability to glance over a 1957 International once used as a water tanker fire truck and envision a barbecue smoker.

    But Meridian mechanic Terry Wilson did just that.

    It took Wilson and fellow mechanic Tony Todd seven years to build a three-pit smoker. The vehicle, which once extinguished fires, now satisfies the palate with all sorts of delicacies at catered events.

    The former fire truck was once a part of the Damascus Volunteer Fire Department in Kemper County.

    “My dad bought it and was going to make a dump truck out of it,” Wilson said. “I walked one time around the truck and said I wanted it. I saw a barbecue smoker in it. After a couple of years, my dad decided he wasn’t going to do the dump truck and let me have it.”

    Wilson said the smoker became operational in 2013. The first catered event using the new smoker was Run for the Wall bike ride just before Memorial Day at the Lauderdale County Agri-Center. Some 400 meals were prepared during that particular event.

    “I told my dad that we could feed an army with this thing,” Wilson said. “We contracted out for 650 meals for that first event. It’s built for large crowds.”   

    Wilson said he and Todd put their mechanical skills to work in converting the truck.

    “We built a three-pit tank inside the original tank. There are two fireboxes on it and the three pits. One firebox feeds one pit and heats the oven. The other firebox heats the other two pits. It’s all wood and no gas,” Wilson said. “We cook primarily using pecan wood as the source.”

    Wilson said the configuration works just as they had planned.

“It works very well. It’s fuel efficient and holds temperature where we want it,” Wilson said. “We’re both full-time mechanics and have an understanding of air flow. It pretty much came out like we drew it out on a legal pad.”

    The smoker has the ability to cook a maximum of 75 Boston butt pork shoulders, 108 chickens and approximately 40 briskets.

    As expected, Wilson and Todd proved the naysayers wrong.

    “Everybody said we were crazy when we started and that it wouldn’t work,” Wilson said. “We spent seven years on the weekends and a few nights each week getting it done. We just lucked out and it turned out real well. Everybody seems to like it wherever we go.”

    The smoker has catered numerous events, including Meridian Mardi Gras, groundbreaking for the Arts and Entertainment Experience, Earth’s Bounty and the Soulé Steam Festival. Catered private events are a staple for the business.

    Wilson and Todd have their own sauce and spice under the moniker of Mr. Leon’s, in honor of Wilson’s grandfather. Their catering business is on Facebook at Smokin 57 Food Truck.   

    Wilson said he’s toyed with the idea of catering for a living.

    “In the back of our minds we thought this was something we could do when we retire,” Wilson said. “We prefer to cater for a set number. I’ve always been an outside cooker and never had an inclination I’d cook for a large group. But the first time I saw the truck, I thought this could be a lot of fun.”