Paducah Fire Department marks arrival of new engine with traditional ceremony

FOX23 News at 9 p.m

PADUCAH, Ky., (KBSI) — The Paducah Fire Department held a wetdown and housing ceremony to mark the addition of a new fire engine at Station No. 2.

Members of the Paducah Board of Commissioners and the city manager joined firefighters for the event at the station on Wayne Sullivan Drive.

Officials said the ceremony celebrates the department’s newest engine while honoring longstanding fire service traditions.

The wetdown and housing ceremony includes spraying down the new apparatus, drying it and pushing it into the station — a practice that dates back to the late 1800s when fire crews used horses and manually returned equipment to the station after calls.