Middle Road Volunteer Fire Department in Indiana Township celebrated the purchase of a new fire engine on Sunday afternoon with a traditional blessing, wet down and push in.

The wet down was performed with the department’s previous first engine, a 36-year-old Sutphen. Volunteers used the old engine’s hose to wash the new one. Local children attending the event were then called to push the new engine into the bay. The tradition has evolved with technology over the years. To assist the children with pushing the 40,000-pound vehicle, Paul Penezic slowly backed the vehicle into the garage with Volunteer Fire Chief John Rex sitting shotgun.

“Some communities do it with just the firemen, but we thought it would be nice to invite the community members so they could see what it is that we do with their hard earned donations at work,” said the fire department’s president, John Hamilton. “We thought it would be nice to just get everyone involved.”

According to Hamilton, the new truck was purchased with a combination of fundraising, the township fire tax, and donations. Rex said the department received the vehicle about three weeks ago, and volunteers trained for about two weeks on it. Sunday’s event marked the truck’s first official day in service.

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