Snohomish County Fire District No. 5 firefighters celebrated last week as their brand new fire engine was blessed into service. The blessing was followed by a push-in ceremony, during which firefighters and firefighter recruits pushed the new engine into the apparatus bay by hand.
The event was held at 6 p.m. on Thursday, July 9, in conjunction with the department's annual family barbecue and Waterball Tournament. A long-standing firefighter tradition, the new engine was blessed by First Baptist Church of Sultan Pastor Steve Boek after a brief presentation by Chief Merlin Halverson.
The tradition of blessing a new fire engine and pushing it into the firehouse, explained Halverson, dates back to the days when fire apparatus were horse-drawn. Back then, fire stations were referred to as "fire barns;GÇ¥ a term that is still occasionally used today. Once firefighters returned to the station after a fire, the horses were stowed inside the barn, which meant that they had to push the pump and hose carts in by hand.
"We believe that this was intended to be a display of teamwork and solidarity,GÇ¥ Halverson said. "Even a horse-drawn, as you know, is too big and too heavy for one individual to push and to move. Then, as now, firefighters relied on one another to know the job, to do their job, and if necessary to step into harms' way for one another. So firefighting truly is a team sport.GÇ¥
District No. 5 has retained its historic firefighting equipment including its 1905 horse-drawn pumper and hose cart, 1923 Model T and its 1937 Howe Fire Apparatus Co. fire truck, all of which were part of the Sultan Summer Shindig parade on Saturday, July 11.
Purchased new in 1937, the Howe fire apparatus came with a 500 gallon-per-minute pump and a 150-gallon booster tank. Its heavy aluminum cab-top was considered innovative, since mechanized fire apparatus at that time did not typically have a closed-in cab.
The department's new 2015 apparatus was built by Pierce Manufacturing, which is located in Wisconsin. The custom-built, 450-horsepower fire engine extends roughly 32 feet in length and stands 10'-7GÇ¥ tall. It has a 1,500 gallon-per-minute maximum pumping capacity and includes a hydraulic ladder rack, LED lights and a 750-gallon water tank.
Having an onboard water tank enables firefighters to begin fighting a fire the minute they roll up on the scene. Using the tank water, firefighters can instantly begin to put water on a fire while other members of the crew locate and attach to the closest hydrant.
The new vehicle has the capacity to hold four firefighters, a driver and an officer. It's replacing a 1987 FMC, which will still serve as a training and reserve unit.
Plans for the new unit have been underway for about a year and a half. First, a committee of firefighters was formed to prioritize the engine's features and determine what they needed most in an apparatus. Halverson acknowledged firefighters Steve Tonkin, Jason Gwilt, Scott Clark and Eric Shaeffer, all of whom served on the committee.
After the committee finalized the details and a price was negotiated, it took Pierce Manufacturing eight months to build the roughly $500,000 piece of equipment.
Once it arrived in Sultan, firefighters had to be trained on every aspect of the new engine. Over a period of just under two months, firefighters trained frequently, learning to drive it and becoming accustomed to where things are located. First responders must be completely in-tune with a piece of equipment, so that in the case of an emergency they are able to respond seamlessly.
"From the time that we get it, it's still another month, almost two months, until we can actually run it as our primary engine,GÇ¥ said District No. 5 Firefighter EMT Chris Shroy. "We just hit that stage last week, so we're all super excited.GÇ¥
Snohomish County Fire District No. 5 protects 72 square miles of rural area, including both Sultan and Startup. The district employs a mix of full-time staff and volunteers, which are also referred to as part-time staff. The majority of District No. 5 firefighters are certified as either basic level Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) or Advanced EMTs.
They typically respond to approximately 1,000 calls per year, and are often deployed to neighboring districts including Gold Bar and Monroe.
Halverson emphasized the teamwork aspect of firefighting during the ceremony, quoting from a Rudyard Kipling poem called "The Law of the Jungle.GÇ¥
"For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack,GÇ¥ Halverson said. "That pretty much tells you how we have to operate here.GÇ¥
For more information on Snohomish County Fire District No. 5, please visit the website at: http://www.snofire5.org/, or the Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/Snofire5?fref=ts.
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