New pumper, firefighters put into service for GFD

Initiating a new piece of equipment into service for the Greencastle Fire Department, Capt. Kyle App wets down Engine 2, a new Sutphen pumper delivered from the Ohio factory less than two weeks ago.

Banner Graphic/Jared Jernagan

In its last official act of service to the city, it’s fitting that Greencastle Fire Department Engine 2 helped to bring its replacement into service.

With the city performing a “wet down” ceremony on the new pumper/rescue combo truck, the water was pumped by one of the two trucks it is replacing — the old Engine 2, a 1996 Pierce pumper.

Sparing them the cold water treatment of the truck, the department also formally welcomed two new firefighters, Jonathan Newgent and Jacob Armstrong.

Following the wet down ceremony (and subsequent drying off), multiple firefighters and family members push the new truck into its parking space in the GFD bay. The ceremony is taken from early horse-drawn fire engines, which were cleaned after each use and then backed into place by hand, as horses cannot back a carriage.

Banner Graphic/Jared Jernagan

Prior to the ceremony, Assistant Chief Rob Frank explained the history behind such a ceremony, giving Chief John Burgess a good-natured ribbing in the process.

“Back when John started in the fire service,” Frank explained with a grin, engines were pulled by horses.

After a bit of laughter from the crowd outside the GFD station, Frank continued by explaining that after a fire, the horses would be unhitch from the engine, so the firefighters could wash the engine and then back it into firehouse by hand, as it is difficult for horses to back up a carriage.

Freshly sworn in to his new position on the Greencastle Fire Department, new firefighter Jacob Armstrong shakes the hand of Mayor Bill Dory Monday afternoon at the GFD station.

Banner Graphic/Jared Jernagan

With that in mind, Capt. Kyle App was given the honor of wetting down the new engine with water from the old engine.

Afterward, several other firefighters joined in drying the truck off before an even larger crew, that included both Mayor Bill Dory and DePauw University President Mark McCoy, pushed the truck into its spot in the GFD bay.

Not merely there for their brawn, Dory, McCoy and Greencastle Township Trustee Steve Butts all made brief remarks about the new apparatus.

Dory explained that the new truck will keep folks throughout the Putnam County community safe.

“This is a long-term investment in the safety of the campus and the city,” Dory said. “And because we’re the only staffed department in the county, we’re also asked to assist around the county.”

McCoy simply expressed his gratitude to the fire department for all it does for the DePauw community.

“Thanks to the fire department for all it does,” McCoy said. “We’re glad to play a very small role in this.”

Butts briefly expressed his gratitude on behalf of township residents before presenting Dory with a check, which he called the township’s down payment on the new truck.

Besides carrying with it all the upgrades of being the department’s newest truck, the idea is for the new Engine 2 to actually improve efficiency, as it replaces both the 1996 Pierce pumper and a 1992 International rescue truck, which has no water lines on it.

With the new truck parked in its new home, Dory called Newgent, and then Armstrong, to join him in front of it to be formally sworn in as full-time firefighters.

Newgent was approved by the Greencastle Board of Works in October. He is the son of retired Greencastle Fire Chief Bill Newgent.

Armstrong was approved to fill another vacancy in December, having served as a part-time firefighter previously.