Whitewater Fire/EMS would like to invite the public to a “Push-In Ceremony” to commemorate placing their newly delivered fire engine into service for our community. According to firerescue1.com, “The ceremony dates back to the days of horse-drawn equipment when members had to push the equipment into the bay. Beginning in the 1800s, after crews returned from a call on horse-drawn equipment, the animals were unable to back into the station, requiring members to detach the horses and push the equipment into the bay. Over time, with the invention and adoption of motorized apparatus, the need to manually move the equipment was gone. However, the legacy of the push-in was secured. Now, in honor of those early crews, many fire departments hold a push-in ceremony when taking delivery of a new apparatus, often inviting community members to celebrate the exciting moment their tax dollars helped make possible.”
The event will occur at the Whitewater Fire Department, 312 W. Whitewater St., following the annual Whitewater 4th of July parade. Asst. Chief Ryan Dion told The Whitewater Banner that the department is shooting for noon, as an estimate for when the parade will end. However, if the parade is still underway, they’d hold off as long as 12:30. The “extra” time would be filled with Q&A and tours. There will be brief remarks by department staff, followed by a fire service tradition known as a Push-In, where members of the community are invited to help us “push” the new apparatus into the bay. Following the event, the department will offer fire station tours, as well as question and answer opportunities as emergency call volume will allow.
Dion provided The Banner with the following information regarding the truck.
“The new truck is a 2024 made by E-One. This new pumper features a 1750 gallon per minute pump, and a 1000 gallon on-board water tank. We will be moving a model year 1996 HME pumper into reserve status. For the time being, it will remain in the fleet, but not in front line service. The intent is to fully decommission and sell that 1996 HME in the not-too-distant future. However, prior to doing so, we want to ensure we do not degrade our fire protection class rating. It’s a rather complex process (the rating criteria) but suffice it to say one of the big components is apparatus, and how much water we can move with our pumpers. We certainly don’t want a negative delta to occur in our rating. We are actively engaged in fleet management tasks at the present time. (You may have seen one of our other pieces of apparatus recently posted for sale.) We want to make fiscally responsible decisions while simultaneously setting our firefighters up for success and give our community the level of protection they expect and deserve. So, for the time being, the 1996 will remain in the fleet, but as a reserve engine.
This truck was actually ordered in summer of 2022, and was delivered in March of 2025. Former [Late] Chief Higgins started the process (drawing, bid, etc.) on this truck in early 2022. Sadly, this lead time is pretty normal industry wide at the moment. Fire apparatus are years out for production time. Our initial staffing referendum was in fall of 2022, with a complement of full-time personnel starting in March of 2023. With that being said, we had not created an equipment fund when this truck was ordered. The cost of the apparatus was $875,000. … WFD Inc (the former fire department) funded 25% of this truck with monies that existed in that account, and the City funded the rest.
Our next large replacement will be our ladder truck. Our 1990 Grumman Aerial Cat has been due for replacement as well. This truck was purchased as Department of Defense surplus from the Gulf War. I believe it arrived in Whitewater in 1991. It will be replaced with a new E-One tower ladder at the end of 2025/early 2026. This truck was purchased at the same time as the new engine that just arrived. We actually signed both contracts at the same time. By placing two orders for apparatus, we saved a significant amount of money. Think of that “buy in bulk” concept. This decision was made knowing both trucks needed replacement. A higher up-front cost was incurred, but it saved considerably downstream.”
Editor’s note: The photo on the homepage is from the Ross Township Fire Department.
