BOSTON (AP) – A firetruck restoration expert in rural Maine is growing tired of baby-sitting a mighty contraption once used to battle blazes in Boston’s tallest buildings.

Andy Swift says he saved the wagon-mounted 65-foot tower from the scrapyard in 1998. But he was told a week after carting it to Maine that Boston fire officials wanted it back. He, in turn, said they’d have to pay the transportation expense.

Now, he wants Boston to pay him rent for keeping the rusty, six-story tower in a barnyard on his property in Hope, a small town near Camden where it has remained for so long that it has sprouted weeds at the base.

“I can’t even (park in the city of) Boston without getting a ticket or getting towed, but I’ve been baby-sitting this thing for a decade,” Swift told the Boston Globe. “If we don’t resolve this, I said, ‘Your tea party is going to look like a picnic.'”

Boston Fire Commissioner Roderick Fraser said Swift agreed to keep the tower and see whether local groups could raise money for a renovation. Although the tower’s value is uncertain and it requires enormous storage space, there are some who would like to see it restored.

The tower, which dates back to the 1920s, operated like a huge syringe on wheels, sending a pressurized stream of water up a hose within its scaffolding that produced a spray of water that could reach the farthest corners of a burning building. It was taken out of service in the 1960s.

“I think it has some very significant historical value,” said Fraser, noting that he inherited the problem from a prior administration. “I don’t have time for it; I have a department to run.”

Fraser said Swift agreed to allow time to see whether groups like the Boston Sparks Association, made up of fire buffs, could raise money for a renovation. Even if they can, no one is even sure where the giant apparatus would be kept.

There also are questions about what the tower is worth. Stephen Heaver, a founder of the Fire Museum of Maryland, estimated its value at $5,000 to $6,000.

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Information from: The Boston Globe, http://www.boston.com/globe

AP-ES-06-02-08 1317EDT