A SusanvilleStuff Photofeature
by Jeremy Couso
Janesville Fire Protection District Chief Dustin Leef welcomed a crowd of Janesville residents, local dignitaries, law enforcement and JFPD Board Members to a welcoming ceremony for a brand-new Type 1 fire engine last Tuesday evening at the Janesville Fire Hall.
According to Leef it’s a big deal whenever a new piece of apparatus enters service, and to celebrate the event the department held a ‘push-in’ ceremony.
“The reason we do a push-in ceremony in the fire service,” explains Chief Leef, “dates back all the way to when fire engines or wagons were pulled by horses.”
Backing up the apparatus with horses made it difficult to align the engine’s steam connections with the station’s steam connections. For this reason, the horses were typically disconnected, and the engine was again pushed back into the station by hand.
“It’s been a tradition since then that once a vehicle gets ready to go online in the service, the first thing we’ll do is push it in and then from then on its ready to serve the community.”
“Being a small department, as you all know, getting a new engine, getting it staffed and getting it on call is going to be great for the community.”
