NORTH ATTLEBORO - A local company is helping to outfit an old fire engine as a hearse that can be used for funeral processions of firefighters who die in the line of duty.

Greenwood Emergency Vehicles in the North Attleboro Industrial Park is working with the Deputy Fire Chief Gerald W. Nadeau Foundation to convert the 1986 Pierce Dash fire truck.

"Firefighters risk their lives to save those of others," Greenwood President Tim O'Neill said."They are true heroes and they should be treated as such when they sacrifice so much for the good of others."

The truck was on display during Greenwood's open house Friday, and retired New Bedford Fire Chief Roger Nadeau Jr. and his wife Nancy gave tours of the truck.

Nadeau is the founder of the Deputy Fire Chief Gerald W. Nadeau Foundation, which is named after his late brother, a former Fall River deputy chief who died in the line of duty in 2002 from respiratory distress.

After his brother's death, Nadeau joined the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and became a member of the Massachusetts Local Assistance State Team, an organization that assists families and fire departments when firefighters die in the line of duty.

"I've seen firefighters struggle to put caskets on top of trucks, so I wanted to do this so they could put caskets inside the truck," he said.

The fire truck, an engine previously used by the Weymouth Fire Department, has been modified to include a hydraulic lift in its hose bed so it can safely carry a coffin inside. A second coffin is raised to the top of the truck and draped with an American flag.

BY AMY DeMELIA SUN CHRONICLE STAFF