The Kannapolis Fire Department placed a new ladder truck into service at Fire Station 5 with a traditional “washdown” ceremony today.
The washdown ceremony involves firefighters wetting down the new truck with water from a fire hose, backing the new ladder truck into the station and then everyone dries off the new truck. This tradition began in the late 1880s when horses pulled pumpers to the scene of fires. When the horses were returned to the station they and the pumpers were backed into the station and the horses and pumpers were washed down and readied for the next emergency.
The new fire truck, Ladder 54, replaces a 1999 ladder truck. The ladder extends to a height of 105 feet. The new fire truck weighs 80,000 pounds, seats five firefighters, has a capacity of 300 gallons and can pump 2,000 gallons of water per minute.
