GOOD HOPE, Ohio — Wayne Township Volunteer Fire Rescue put a new tanker truck into service this week, marking the purchase with a traditional “push-in” ceremony before the apparatus answered its first call, the department said in a Facebook post.
Volunteers and community members gathered to push the tanker into the station by hand rather than drive it in, a fire-service tradition that dates to the era of hand-drawn and horse-drawn apparatus, when crews had to physically push engines back into the firehouse after every run. Departments across the country still hold the ceremony today to mark the moment a new piece of equipment officially joins the fleet, honoring the crews who came before.
The department thanked everyone who supported and contributed to bringing the tanker to the community, saying in its post that the new apparatus wouldn’t have been possible without that backing.
The new truck will be on display Saturday when the department holds its annual fish fry fundraiser from noon to 5 p.m. at 3819 Main St. in Good Hope, or until the food sells out. The department said this year’s fish fry proceeds were earmarked for new equipment for the volunteer department, and it credited years of support from fish fry patrons with playing a direct role in making the tanker purchase possible.
Good Hope is an unincorporated community in central Wayne Township, Fayette County, roughly midway between Greenfield and the county seat of Washington Court House. Like many rural Ohio departments, Wayne Township Volunteer Fire Rescue relies on community fundraisers such as the fish fry to help supplement its budget for apparatus and gear.
The information contained in this story was obtained from Wayne Township Volunteer Fire Rescue.
