New Tanker 2 at Station 3 for the push in ceremony. (Gayla Long)
Owasso, OK – Limestone Fire placed its newest tanker truck into service Saturday following a traditional housing ceremony dating back to the 19th Century. The ceremony involved wetting down the tanker with water from Ladder 1, wiping down the tanker, blessing the apparatus and pushing it into the station.
The ceremony was attended by other firefighters from surrounding communities, OHP, and Oklahoma State Fire Training and FDIC advisory board members who were in Tulsa this weekend to advise a national fire safety magazine.
The new Tanker 2 built by WS Darley out of Chippewa Falls, WI, took approximately nine months to build. It holds 2,000 gallons of water and has “pump and roll capability” that allows it to pump water while the truck is moving.
Fire Chief Carl Smith welcoming everyone to ceremony. (Gayla Long)
“We do have two other tankers, but they weren’t sufficient in a lot of cases due to the size of the structures and fire load that we have here, the churches especially.” We also don’t have as many hydrants as we should have or as we’d like to have, said Fire Chief Carl Smith.
The new truck replaces a 1972 five ton military truck, which had a 2000 gallon tank on the back. The military truck was donated to a local fire department to help supplement their need to shuttle water to a fire.
The new tanker will be housed at Station 2 located at Highway 20 and 177th E Ave.
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Limestone Fire gets a new tanker truck