GREENFIELD — Greenfield Fire Department hosted a “push-in” ceremony for its brand-new fire engine Nov. 12.
The 2020 Pierce Saber engine arrived Oct. 30, with firefighters having received training before it officially became part of the lineup.
The ceremony included short speeches, a washing session and blessing of the engine, concluding with the firefighters pushing the vehicle into the fire house — a tradition dating back more than 100 years to when horse-drawn equipment would have to be manually moved rather than under its own motorized power.
“The fire department prior to 2018 had some pretty challenging times and the thought that we would be standing here with a new fire engine was probably something that a lot of people in this room never thought they would see happen, especially a fire engine of the caliber that we have in front of us tonight,” said Jim Langborg, Greenfield’s fire chief.
The event was closed to the public due to Covid-19 concerns, but it was broadcast live over the internet and is viewable as a recording on the fire department’s Facebook page.
“What we need to remember is this is not our fire engine, this is the people’s fire engine,” Langborg said. “It’s our job to love this fire engine, care for this fire engine and to make sure that it’s ready, but we always have to remember whose fire engine it is.”
The blessing portion of the ceremony was to keep the firefighters safe and to keep the engine running in needed condition, Langborg explained. Doing so ensured firefighters could remain brave and calm when called to respond to emergencies.
The entire ceremony was meant to symbolize putting a piece of fire equipment into service and having it ready to respond to the needs of the community.
Langborg called the engine a 25-year investment.
“They built this piece of equipment in a way so that it meets not only the needs of today, but our needs of the future,” Langborg said.
The intent with having online virtual viewing in lieu of a public event was to make sure the community could see how seriously the firefighters took their job and how serious they were about protection.
“I make the commitment to you that we will always do our best to protect you and to take care of what you trust us with,” Langborg said.
The new fleet of engines is up and running, as Langborg said the new engine replaces one that needed to go to full retirement. He thanked the city with securing the needed funds to purchase the engine, including a $700,000 grant approved by the county in late April.
“The only thing that’s left to do is we have a few equipment adjustments, a little bit of touch-up training with our firefighters,” Langborg said. “We’ve had a lot of training already. We have got about 99% of everything ready to go on that engine.”
A few more supplies are en route to the station to be installed on the new engine, but it is already operational.
Along with the ceremony, former Fire Chief John Sims was recognized with a plaque of his helmet in honor of his more than 35 years of service to Greenfield Fire Department and Greenfield Fire District. In addition, Firefighter Ramon Martinez was recognized for more than 25 years of service with Greenfield Fire District.
