PUSH-IN CEREMONY SATURDAY FOR WASHINGTON VFD’S NEW FIRE ENGINE

  

The Washington Volunteer Fire Department welcomes the public to join them at a ceremony this Saturday for a new fire engine.

The “push-in” ceremony, officially welcoming the new apparatus into service, will take place at Washington VFD Station #2 at 15505 Highway 105, beginning at 11 a.m. 

Washington Volunteer Fire Chief Chris Casada says the new engine is the result of a decade-long and over $650,000-process.  It replaces the department’s early 1980s-model engine and will be the first due for structure fires and crashes, increasing the department’s capabilities and effectiveness. 

According to Casada, the department has been working for 10 years to obtain the grant, financing and designing of the new engine, with COVID bringing about many challenges with time delays due to shortages and price increases of 400 percent. 

The department received a $90,000 grant from the Texas A&M Forest Service, $30,000 from Washington County Commissioners, and $245,000 from donations and community fundraisers.  The remaining $285,000 was obtained through a loan taken on by the department, which used funds from its savings account to purchase over $100,000 in gear to outfit the truck like air packs, ladders, hoses, nozzles and tools. 

Casada says the engine also benefits the department in its five-year plan to reduce its ISO rating, which would save local residents on home insurance. 

Free coffee and donuts will be available at Saturday’s event.