Photo Credits: Angela Sebben
On the morning of Tuesday, June 18, city officials, city staff, members of the Fire Department, the Crestwood Public Safety Board, and fellow residents gathered to officially dedicate this new vehicle and place it into service.
The Crestwood Fire Department has been saving, planning, designing, and working for many years to arrive at this moment. This new pumper is the physical result of those efforts, but it also represents the ongoing hard work that the dedicated men and women of the Fire Department will continue for many years to come. This pumper is an impressive and powerful tool that they can use to help all of us.
We are all very proud of our first responders, and this was one of those moments where everyone was able to thank them firsthand.
After brief remarks by Crestwood Fire Chief Meyer and myself, the Crestwood Fire Crew manually pushed the new truck into the firehouse, symbolically placing it into service. This tradition dates back to the days of horse-drawn fire apparatus. It honors the hard work of our firefighters and underscores the importance of this new state-of-the-art equipment in better serving all of us.
As things go, just a few minutes before the ceremony, an emergency call came in, and some of the on-duty crew had to race out of the firehouse to help someone in Crestwood. As such, the task and honor of pushing the new truck back into the firehouse fell to the remaining on-duty crew, Fire Department staff, and all the off-duty personnel who came to participate in this event. Of course, they made quick work of it.
This new pumper firetruck will serve the Crestwood Fire Department well. It will protect them and our community and will always remind us of the importance of courage, compassion, and commitment to Crestwood and all those they aid.
All the tools and non-essential items have been removed from the 24-year-old “standby” firetruck, and it will soon be sold to another fire department that can make use of it.