PALM ISLAND — Some traditions, like the “push in” of a new fire truck, are timeless.
Last week Charlotte County Fire & EMS welcomed a new fire truck, Engine 10, to Fire Station 10 by ceremonially pushing it into the building itself. The pushing, by about a dozen first responders, was assisted by the truck reversing into the garage.
Nowadays, fire trucks — which weigh tens of thousands of pounds — are much heavier than those that used to be pushed in back in the day.
According to Charlotte County Fire & EMS officials, the push-in tradition dates back to when fire departments had fire apparatuses pulled by horses. Then, firefighters would manually push their engines back into the station after returning from a call.
Since firefighters are quite the sentimental bunch, the tradition has stuck.
Charlotte County Commissioner Bill Truex also attended the push-in ceremony. He is also a member of the Barrier Islands Fire Service Unit. They are a specialized assessment district established to provide dedicated fire suppression and emergency medical services to local coastal and island communities.
A local family with young children also stopped by to check out the new engine and take a tour of Fire Station 10. Firefighters showed the youngsters some of their gadgets and one firefighter even slid down a fire pole as a young, barefoot boy wearing a plastic fire helmet watched on.
Charlotte County Fire & EMS expressed gratitude to the neighbors who attended the push-in ceremony on social media.
“Thank you to everyone who joined us as we welcomed the newest addition to our fleet and the crew who will proudly serve our community from Station 10,” the post stated.