Events

On Saturday, December 12, the members of the Deerfield-Bannockburn Fire Department and their families hosted a dedication ceremony that “christened” their new Pierce Arrow XT fire engine. This ceremony, called a “wetdown”, dates back to the turn of the century.

As a long-standing tradition in the fire service, a wetdown honors a retiring engine for its years of dedicated service by transferring the water from the retiring apparatus to the water tank of the new engine.

On the morning of December 12th, 2009, department members and their families gathered at the fire station to carry on this tradition. The water from our retiring engine, a 1991 Pierce, was transferred to the new engine. After the water was transferred, department and family members washed, dried and then pushed new Engine 20 into the apparatus bay where it was officially placed into service, ready to serve the fire district and its citizens. Our fire district purchased the Arrow XT model from the Pierce Manufacturing Company of Appleton, Wisconsin. This model is designed with state-of-the-art safety features that provide our firefighters with a safer working environment while in or around the engine. Some features include: increased windshield visibility that helps eliminate blind spots, side-impact protection, hi-visibility chevrons, improved scene lighting, airbags and a rear video camera to assist the driver when the vehicle is backing up.

New Engine 20 carries 750 gallons of water that supply the 1250 gallon per minute fire pump. This engine carries advanced life support equipment and is equipped with specialized rescue tools. It also has a pre-piped foam system that supplies a non-toxic foam solution to assist in firefighting activities.

Engine 20 is housed at our main fire station at 500 Waukegan Road. If you’re in the neighborhood, stop by and have your picture taken with our newest piece of emergency apparatus.