East Kelowna firefighters welcome a new engine to the fleet

It was an exciting weekend for the Kelowna Fire Department (KFD) crew in East Kelowna as they welcomed their new engine with a traditional "push-in" ceremony.

As per tradition, firefighters in East Kelowna welcomed their new engine with a push-in ceremony.

Video courtesy of the Kelowna Fire Department. pic.twitter.com/GwvzTjgSUg

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“This is (a) tradition with all fire departments across North America,” explained KFD Deputy Fire Chief Sandra Follack.

“It's called the push-in ceremony. So what we do is when we get a brand new truck, before it actually goes into the hall, the crew will physically push it into the fire hall to introduce it.”

The tradition dates back to the 1800s when firefighting equipment used to be pulled by horses and could not be reversed into the fire stations.

Follack added that the horse-drawn wagons would be used to wash the equipment before being placed to rest.

And so crews of Station 7 in East Kelowna gathered and washed their new engine before pushing it into the hall on Saturday.

But before they could put their cleaning supplies away and the ceremony take place, the crews were called out to an incident and the pushing was delayed until later in the day.

The new truck is a frontline engine and will go to almost every call the firefighters respond to, replacing their current engine.

The older truck is sticking with the KFD fleet and being moved to another station in the jurisdiction.

Follack added that the new engine can hold 1000 gallons of water and has some new features, including a heating system to prevent frozen lines when “working the pumps.”

The new engine was previously a showroom model, allowing for the KFD to avoid waiting for an engine to be built, which can take two to three years.

Follack said this particular model ranges in price from $700,000 to $1 million, with the price tag for the Kelowna engine coming in at just over $750,000.