City of Shelbyville's newest fire truck 'pushed' into service

The first fire truck to service the City of Shelbyville was purchased in 1868. The latest fire truck was “pushed” into service Monday at Fire Station No. 1.

With Indiana State Fire Marshall Steve Jones in attendance, local firefighters pushed the city’s new $1 million dollar fire truck into the firehouse and informed dispatch that Engine 691 was ready for service.

“The nice thing about this truck is it’s a stock truck,” said Shelbyville Fire Chief Doug Lutes. “It’s a nice truck. In 14 months from the time we discussed buying this with the sales rep, we got this truck. It was built in Bradenton, Florida. It’s got everything we need on it.”

The fire department has been without a fire truck in recent months after Engine No. 1 blew a motor. The 10-year-old fire truck is expected back in service with a new motor very soon and it will take up residence at Fire Station No. 3 (water tower fire station adjacent to Shelbyville Middle School).

The current fire truck at station No. 3 will move to the downtown fire house and the current two-decade-old fire truck working out of the station No. 1 will be retired.

“It gets us back to par,” said Lutes of returning to a full complement of trucks. “In two weeks we will be golden with all our trucks back in service. We will be good for a number of years.”

Just as the fire department did just over 18 months ago with its new ladder truck housed at Fire Station No. 2 on the city’s east side, there was a ceremony to push the new truck into service.

“In the old days, horses pulled steam engines. But they couldn’t back them up and push them in (to the fire houses),” explained Lutes. “So now we do it one time (ceremonially) to push this truck in. There are a lot of traditions in the fire service, and this is one of them.”

Before the truck was pushed into the bay, it was sprayed down with water which allowed everyone in attendance to take a commemorative towel and wipe down the truck (photo, above). Then the firefighters pushed it backward into the bay (photo, below).

The new fire truck, at a final cost of $1,055,800, is somewhat smaller than the truck it is replacing. The size difference will help with maneuverability around the city, according to Lutes.

The truck has a 525-horsepower motor and can carry 778 gallons of water. The previous truck would carry 1,000 gallons.

“We have guys who can sit in front of a computer and look at pictures of fire trucks all day. I love it,” said Lutes with a smile. “I wasn’t wired quite that way. We had a committee of 10 guys that sat down and decided what we wanted in this truck.

“These guys love fire trucks and all the gadgets on fire trucks. So they are very excited. They have been working very hard to get this in service.”

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