WHITEWATER — Whitewater Fire and EMS will have the unveiling and the ceremonial push-in ceremony of its new engine after the cityÃÛèÖÊÓƵ annual July 4th parade this Friday.
This engine, an E-One pumper, will be the third in the departmentÃÛèÖÊÓƵ fleet. It will allow a 1996 HME (Hendrickson Motor Equipment), which will be a reserve engine and eventually retired, Assistant Chief Ryan Dion said. The E-One has a 1,750 gallon-per minute tank and a 1,000 gallon onboard water tank.
This was an $875,000 purchase for the city. The department started the order in the summer of 2022.
“ItÃÛèÖÊÓƵ like anything — the supply chain and the post-COVID funk. Nationwide we haven’t recovered from that. ItÃÛèÖÊÓƵ everywhere. The lead times are crazy,†Dion said.
The push-in tradition has its roots in the 19th century when fire departments relied on horses to pull their vehicles.
“The horses couldn’t back in. It would require the horses to be detached to whatever they were pulling and the firefighters to push in the equipment,†Dion said.
The E-One is based in Florida and the department had to wait for it to be delivered. Then after stops in New York and Indiana, department members modified the E-One with hoses and installed equipment. With the timing of the delivery and modifications, however, it led up to the July 4th parade when people will be out at the parade, Dion said.
“The parade route ends pretty much right in front of the fire station, so we thought it would be a good time to do this,†Dion said.
The parade starts at 10 a.m. at Lincoln Elementary School, 242 S. Prince St., and ends at Fremont Street, near the fire station.
The fire station is at 312 W. Whitewater St.
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