Vernon Welcoming New Fire Truck With 'Wet Down' Ceremony

VERNON, CT —Members of the Town of Vernon Fire Department will particulate in a traditional "wet down" ceremony for a new ladder tower truck this weekend.

The ceremony is slated for Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Nye Street Fire Station.

Tower 541 is assigned to the Snipsic Hook & Ladder Company, which was established in 1913 in the Rockville section of Vernon. The company’s first ladder truck was a horse-drawn apparatus. The company obtained its first motorized ladder truck, built by Maxim, in 1923.

The new Tower 541 is a 2022 Pierce rear-mount aerial that recently arrived in Vernon. Crews have been training on the $1.1 million truck, which will go into service shortly. The new truck is replacing a 1994 aerial manufactured by E-One, which has served Vernon well, fire officials said. It was purchased in 1994 on an emergency basis because the existing Ladder 541 was damaged while being using to battle a massive fire at the former Saxony Mill at 66 West Main Street in July 1994.

The Snipsic Hook & Ladder Company was originally based at the firehouse on Prospect Street in Rockville, but the ladder truck obtained in 1994 was too large to fit in the old station. That’s when the company was moved to the Nye Street station.

“This new tower truck is an investment in our community and the volunteer firefighters who will use it to protect our friends and neighbors,” Vernon Mayor Daniel Champagne said. “Our volunteer firefighters go above and beyond every day and it is only proper that our community provide them with the tools they need to safely and effectively serve us.”

The new truck has enhanced features that did not exist when the 1994 truck was purchased.

The Snipsic Hook & Ladder Company was originally based at the firehouse on Prospect Street in Rockville, but the ladder truck obtained in 1994 was too large to fit in the old station. That’s when the company was moved to the Nye Street station.

“This new tower truck is an investment in our community and the volunteer firefighters who will use it to protect our friends and neighbors,” Mayor Dan Champagne said. “Our volunteer firefighters go above and beyond every day and it is only proper that our community provide them with the tools they need to safely and effectively serve us.”

The new truck has enhanced features that did not exist when the 1994 truck was purchased.

The truck that is being replaced served Vernon well, Assistant Fire Chief Robert Babcock said. It was used to battle many fires, and most recently its ladders were used to rescue several people from the Fitch Block fire in December 2020.