The Monmouth Fire Department held a “push-in” ceremony Thursday for its two new fire engines, drawing about 100 people for the blessing ceremony that officially placed the vehicles into service.
More than 30 fire department members helped push both fire trucks back into the station Thursday evening as dozens more people looked on, according to Dan Roy, chief of the Monmouth Fire Department.
Roy said the push-in tradition dates back to the early 1800s, when horses were detached from old steam engines and hand pumps, and firefighters had to push them back into the station, he said.
The new trucks — engines 81 and 83 — started being used earlier this summer after voters approved entering a 15-year purchase-lease agreement for them in June 2015 at Town Meeting.
The two trucks were manufactured in Louisiana and replaced three existing trucks — two pumpers built in 1988 and 2001 and a heavy rescue truck built in 2008 — bringing the department’s total fleet to four vehicles.
Both of the new trucks are equipped with compressed air foam systems, which can knock down blazes quickly and safely, Roy has said.
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