Grapevine welcomes fire engine with traditional push-in ceremony

The Grapevine Fire Department introduced the newest member of its fleet — Engine 4, The Guardian — on Saturday by going old school with a “push-in” ceremony and first “bath.”

Dozens of firefighters and well-wishers turned out to symbolically back Engine 4, a 2016 Pierce Rescue Engine, into its bay at Fire Station 4, a tradition that dates to the days of horse-drawn fire equipment.

And honoring another decades-old custom, civic leaders and firefighting fans of all ages wiped the truck dry after it was hosed down at the station located in the 4500 block of Merlot Avenue in south Grapevine.

At the same ceremony, the department retired 10-year-old Quint 4, a 2007 Rosenbauer Quint.

“The Guardian, with its distinctive Knight and Shield logo, represents the protectors of firefighters as this company responds to fires to protect our own,” Deputy Fire Chief Mark Ashmead said. “Borrowing a tradition from the day of horse-drawn fire equipment, the current engine was retired and the new engine received its first bath and was pushed into the station.”

This is the department’s second push-in ceremony. In January 2014, a ceremony was held at Fire Station No. 1 for a 2013 Pierce Aerial Platform that boasts a 100-foot platform with a bucket to rescue people.

It can fight fires from ground level to six stories and higher.

The approximately $1.2 million truck, which makes its home at 601 Boyd Drive, replaced a more than 10-year-old one.

The events were designed as a show of unity across the city.

The housing ceremony is a tradition that stems from the days when fire departments used hand-drawn and horse-drawn equipment. Since horses could not easily push the equipment into the stations after fire calls, firefighters had to back the gear in.

Fire Chief Darrell Brown said that the hosing down and drying off practice was a link to when a new fire horse would be given a bath “to welcome the new” and “retire the old.”

Deputy Fire Chief Stuart Grant said the new fleet addition, which was approved by the Grapevine City Council following a request by Brown, has dedicated compartments for technical rescue equipment.

“The technical rescue equipment will assist in rope rescues, major accidents with people trapped, confined space rescues and building collapses,” Grant said.

The new apparatus, with its state-of-the-art technology and rescue capability, “is a great thing for us,” said Grant, who oversees operations.

This story was originally published August 16, 2016 at 1:58 PM with the headline "Grapevine welcomes fire engine with traditional push-in ceremony."