White Rock firefighters have some new hardware at their disposal.
Two shiny red trucks glistening in the bays of the Pacific Avenue fire hall arrived June 16.
But in a take on tradition of days past, the vehicles weren’t driven the last leg to their new home – they were pushed.
“The intent (of the ceremony) is going back to some of the traditions… when horse-drawn engines were brought back into the firehouse,” fire Chief Phil Lemire said. “They used to unhook it because it didn’t have power and they’d push out the old one and push in the new one.
“In this case, it was 425 horses, as opposed to one or two.”
The old-school welcome hasn’t been done at the White Rock hall in the recent past, largely because new engines don’t arrive all that often. This one – with increased pumping capacity and “a few other little things the other trucks don’t have” – replaces a 1990, open-crew-cab model that’s been in the city for 21 years. Once in service, it will become the hall’s frontline engine.
The second new arrival is replacing what was essentially an equipment van, Lemire said.
With pumping capacity and all-wheel drive, it boils down to another vehicle that can respond to fire calls year-round, he said.
Both vehicles came in on budget, Lemire added – the engine, at $475,000; the smaller truck, at $235,000.
Proceeds from the sale of the replaced engine will be returned to the city’s general revenues, he said.