County firefighters host traditional “push-in” ceremony for new truck

Story and photos by Sharon Harrison
Steeped in tradition, a fire truck “push-in” ceremony was held late Thursday afternoon as Prince Edward County Fire and Rescue celebrated the arrival of a new truck to the Picton station.

Dating back to the era of horse-drawn fire wagons, a “push-in” ceremony has deep roots within the fire service and today, this ceremony honours those traditions and is also an opportunity for the fire service to publicly thank council for a more than $630,280 investment in both the fire service and public safety. The new pumper truck is replacing a 26-year-old pumper.

Held at the Picton Fire Station on McDonald Drive, the short ceremony began with what is known as a “wet down” of the new fire truck.

Today’s celebration is honouring traditions long served in the fire service, explained Tim Kraemer, interim fire chief.

“Back in the 1700s and 1800s, the fire service relied upon horse-drawn wagons for fire engines, and when they returned to the station, the horses had to be disconnected and the firefighters would manually push the apparatus back into the base,” he shared. The “push-in” as it is referred, is the symbolic act of firefighters and council members coming together to push the truck into the station.

Many of the County’s firefighters were on hand for the celebration, and were joined by County mayor Steve Ferguson, interim CAO Adam Goheen, and a number of councillors including John Hirsch, Sam Grosso, Janice Maynard, Brad Nieman, Roy Pennell and Phil St-Jean, among them.

“Today, what we’ve done is, we have used this tradition to say thanks to the community for the investment in public safety, and to honour the traditions of the fire service, and the firefighters that came before us,” added Kraemer.

The ceremony then included a radio transmission announcement to dispatch, and department members to advise the new truck is officially in service.

While such a ceremony for new fire vehicles is a traditional one, it is not known if Prince Edward County has ever undertaken this type of ceremony before.

Kraemer said to his knowledge, this is a first for Prince Edward County, adding that he saw it was something being done elsewhere and has always wanted to do it.

“One of my goals as interim fire chief is, I am going to build some new culture and traditions in the service here in Prince Edward County, and this is a great way to unite firefighters, members of community and council and mayor,” he said.

Mayor Ferguson spoke to the support the municipality has provided to the fire department, where he outlined how this type of equipment has to eventually be replaced due to age and wear and tear, something he said is expensive to replace, as well as taking a long time to get it replaced.

“The order for this would have been placed probably two years ago, which is a long time for something to get manufactured and shipped up here,” he shared. “For the safety of our residents, and for the safety of the people who work at the fire department, it is necessary to bring in new equipment.”

“New equipment comes with modernization, which is very welcome, and we are glad to have it,” he added, “and it’s pretty, and sparkly.”