The San Marcos Fire Department celebrated the delivery of a new fire engine in the afternoon on October 27 with a “pushing-in” ceremony at Fire Station #4, 404 Broadway Street. The public was invited and encouraged to attend.
The pushing-in ceremony is a tradition dating back to the 19th century when manufacturers would deliver a new pumper wagon to the fire station with a team of horses. Since the team of horses couldn’t back up, the receiving party would unhitch the wagon, push it back into the station, load up the equipment and hitch their own team of horses, making it ready for its first response.
The ceremony was the culmination of more than two years of work by a committee of San Marcos firefighters who researched and set the specifications of the custom-built apparatus. They were; Battalion Chiefs John Koenig and Aaron Crawford, Captains Mark Bomar and Justin Calhoun, and Firefighter Dustin Miller.
The 32.5 foot 2017 Spartan Star Series All Aluminum Pumper is equipped with:
- Metro Star LFD Cab
- Cummings ISL9 450 hp Engine
- Allison EVS3000 Transmission
- Waterhouse CSU 1500 gpm Pump
- Command Light Tower
- 500 Gallon Water Tank with Rear Pre-connects
- Exterior Ladders
- All New Firefighting Equipment
The purchase price of the new engine was $683,831. Fire Chief Les Stephens said, “The citizens of San Marcos will be well-served for years to come on this deeply thought out engine”.