Keeping a time-honored tradition alive, Plano Fire’s newest addition to its fleet will be honored during a traditional fire service wetdown and push-in ceremony on what will be Truck 2’s first day serving the City and residents. The ceremony will be held at 8 a.m. Thursday, April 26 at Plano’s Fire Station 2 located at 2630 W. 15th Street. The public is invited to attend.
The celebration of a new piece of fire apparatus has been a source of pride in the fire service dating back to the 1800s. Firefighters would hold social events to mark the occasion of acquiring and placing into service a new piece of equipment. Since equipment was either hand or horse-drawn, firefighters regularly pushed it into the station. The wetdown tradition came from rival fire companies attempting to “wash” the new apparatus before the firefighters who would soon operate it. The public is invited to assist with the wetdown before the firefighters push the truck into the station. Plano’s Fire Chaplain, Robert Matthews will deliver a blessing on Truck 2 and the firefighters who will ride it.
Truck 2 is a 109 foot rear-mount aerial ladder manufactured by Rosenbauer. It has a 1,250 gallons-per-minute fire pump and a 300 gallon on-board water tank with foam-pumping capabilities. Truck 2 is also equipped with independent front suspension (IFS), a new feature Plano’s other trucks do not have, to improve the ride quality. It will be Plano’s fifth aerial ladder truck. Its crew will perform specialized duties such as ventilation, forcible entry, operating aerial master streams and elevated rescue