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Bothell Fire Department welcomes new truck with time-honored tradition

Published 9:57 am Wednesday, February 27, 2019

By Katie Metzger

Bothell Fire Department welcomes new truck with time-honored tradition
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Bothell Fire Department welcomes new truck with time-honored tradition
Members of the community help the Bothell Fire Department with a “push-in” ceremony for their new truck. Photo courtesy of Kirsten Clemens
Young Bothell community members participate in a “bucket brigade.” Photo courtesy of Kirsten Clemens
Community members filled up a bucket with water from the old fire engine and passed it down the line to the new fire engine. Photo courtesy of Kirsten Clemens

The Bothell Fire Department welcomed one of two new Pierce fire engines into service with a “push-in” ceremony on Feb. 23. This special tradition has been a source of pride in the fire service for more than 100 years.

Bothell Fire PIO Kirsten Clemens said the origin of the ceremony dates back to horse-drawn equipment, when the horses could not back-up the fire engines. Firefighters would unhitch the horses and “push-in” the fire engine after returning from a fire.

Before community members actually pushed the new engine in, they helped firefighters with a bucket brigade, “where we filled up a bucket with water from the old fire engine and passed it down the line to the new fire engine,” Clemens said.

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