Public Event Slated for New $982K Joplin (MO) FD Pumper

The Joplin Globe, Mo.
(TNS)

Aug. 7—The public is invited to join Joplin firefighters and city officials for a “wet down” ceremony to put a new pumper into service.

The ceremony will be held at 3 p.m. Friday at Joplin Fire Station No. 6, 5302 W. 32nd St.

After the wet down, participants can join firefighters to “push” the truck into the station to be ready for the next call.

This tradition of wetting down a new firetruck is reminiscent of the late 1800s when fire departments used horses to pull fire apparatus to fires. After fighting the fire, the crews would wash and prepare the horses and the apparatus in preparation for the next call. Crews push the apparatus into the station’s bay because the horse-drawn equipment could not be easily backed into the building. To move the equipment into the station, firefighters and community members gathered to push the heavy equipment into the fire bay.

The new rig is a 2024 Pierce Velocity pumper with a capacity of 1,500 gallons per minute. This engine will carry extrication equipment and firefighting tools to be prepared for various responses. ⁠The purchase of the pumper truck was funded by revenue from the half-cent public safety sales tax that voters approved in 2006. It cost $982,362.

The department also has two other engines on order for a combined cost of $2,540,722, according to fire Chief Gerald Ezell.

Finance director Leslie Haase said the city also has bought a used firetruck for $730,422 and has ordered a replacement truck for Fire Station No. 4 at a cost of $989,825 to update the fleet.

The Joplin Fire Department will host the ceremony Friday and provide details about the new No. 6 truck at the event.

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