THE
Buzz
A Towering Time
Ocala Fire Rescue initiates its newest tower truck with a traditional push-in ceremony. › By Cealia Athanason > Photos by Ralph Demilio
O
ne gorgeous piece of machinery sits just inside the enormous garage at Fire Station No. 1. Chairs are set up inside, and only a podium and a few paces separate them from Tower One—Ocala Fire Rescue’s newest addition to its fleet of 32 vehicles. Two months ago, OFR did something it hasn’t done in a long time. They held a traditional “pushin” ceremony to initiate and celebrate the newly completed tower truck. The Tower One, as it’s called, has all the bells and whistles to make it one powerful contender against emergencies of all kinds. “In recent years, this is the first ceremony open to the public,” says OFR Public Information Officer Ashley Lopez. “Most ‘push-in’ ceremonies are limited to the crews at the fire station.” After Fire Chief Bradd Clark and Assistant Fire Chief Anthony Ortiz welcome the crowd in attendance and speak about the process and design of the truck, the Tower One follows an older squad truck around the block near Tuscawilla Park for its inaugural lap. When it returns from its first lap, the station’s crew takes a moment to ceremoniously push the truck back into the station—with a bit of help from a driver since this is one massive truck. “To us, the ceremony was a little extra special,” says Lopez. “We are truly excited to add this piece of equipment to our facility.” This type of ceremony has a bit of history behind it, too. The push-in concept dates back to the time when fire engines were horse-drawn. After returning from a call, the firefighters would have to push the engines back into the station. Now, it’s become a fire department tradition to welcome and initiate new trucks.
Assistant Fire Chief Anthony Ortiz
018
› Ocala
.com