A ceremony that dates back to the time when the local fire brigade would charge off to fires with horse-drawn fire wagons was held at Station 1 Thursday afternoon.

As many as two dozen firefighters, councillors, Mayor Steve Ferguson and interim CAO Adam Goheen took part in a Push-In Ceremony. After a wet down and polish where every firefighter took turns with chamois cloths, polishing Prince Edward Fire & Rescue’s latest addition, the crew joined with council and ceremoniously pushed the pumper truck back into the station.

Interim Fire Chief Tim Kraemer told the Gazette the ceremony’s origins date back to the 1800s. Returning from a fire, the crews would line up the wagons and unbridle the team. After a thorough dousing and preparing the wagons for the next report of a blaze, the crews would then push the apparatus back into the fire hall.

Today, this ceremony honours those traditions while celebrating the arrival of a new fire truck. It is also an opportunity for the fire service to publicly thank Council for a critical investment in both the fire service and public safety. The ceremony was concluded with by a radio transmission to dispatch and department members announcing the truck is officially in service.

Thursday’s ceremony was PECFR’s first public Push-In in memory. Mr. Kraemer is hopeful the practice, which many other Ontario municipalities take part in regularly, continues here.

“We wanted to develop some new culture and traditions and if you go online, there are some great videos of Push-In ceremonies so we thought why not,” Mr. Kraemer said. “We’re very pleased at the turn out, it looks like almost every member from Station 1 is here today.”

New Roles for Old Trucks

The new $650,000 Freightliner comes with 1,500 gallon per minute pump and a 1,500 gallon tank and is set up to operate in both urban and rural areas. It can draft water from a number of static sources. In replaces a vehicle that’s 26 years old and had been relegated to a secondary vehicle due to age and diminishing pump capacity.

Interim Chief Kraemer noted the old pumper model, made by Sterling, was discontinued in 2009 and obtaining replacement parts had become a serious issue in recent years.

“Being that it’s an emergency service vehicle, it goes through a different duty cycle than typical vocational trucks,” Mr Kraemer said. “Pumpers are worked hard from the minute they leave the fire station to the time they come back. Lots of stresses from running the fire pump, navigation to the scene and lots of idling hours. These front line vehicles support mercy operations. It’s critical we have equipment that’s maintainable and up-to-date on modern safety features that protect our firefighters when they are operating in various high-stress enviornments.”

As for the old pumper, Mr. Kraemer has received an Expression of Interest from organizers at the Regional Fire Training Centre in Quinte West. If Council approves of such a disposition, the old truck will have a new role in firefighter instruction.

“There’s an urgent need that needs to be fulfilled within the Regional Training Centre, and I’m hoping with council’s blessing we can make that happen,” he added.