The Town of Vernon Fire Department celebrated the arrival of Engine Tank 241 with a wet down ceremony on Sept. 20.
Capt. Jon Lucas welcomed a crowd of colleagues and well wishers to the Dobsonville fire station at 59 Birch St. The Rev. Alisa Dickhoff, senior minister at the First Congregational Church of Vernon and the fire department chaplain, offered a prayer and blessed the new truck.
The 2024 Pierce Enforcer features a 2,500-gallon tank and a 1,500 gallon per minute pump. The truck also carries a 3,000 gallon portable pond, which is used in areas where fire hydrants are not readily available. The new truck replaces a 2002 American Lafrance Eagle engine tanker.
Mayor Dan Champagne and Fire Chief Stephen Eppler also spoke.
Then current and former members of Engine Tank 241 wet the new truck down and pushed it into the firehouse.
The ceremony harkens to the days when firefighters used horse-drawn pumpers to fight fires. After a fire, firefighters would wash and ready the horses for the next call, then detach them from the pumper and push it themselves back into the firehouse. The tradition has evolved to water being sprayed onto a new truck.