The Woodbury Volunteer Fire Dept hosted a community ‘wet down’ for two new firetrucks Sunday afternoon October 11^th.  A continuous downpour from mother nature provided the customary drenching for Rescue 3 and Tanker 9 which have a total value of nearly $2.0 million. “This is the final delivery in a forward purchasing plan spread over 25 years,” said Fire Chief Janet B. Morgan. In photo 1, Henry Hatstat, at left, and Cooper Hutter expect to join the department in another 15 years, their firefighting dads said. Meanwhile five-year-olds enjoyed the party.

In all nearly 100 Woodbury firefighters, their families, townspeople, and firefighters from Roxbury, Southbury, and Watertown gathered to enjoy food and camaraderie at the free public event. Wetting down new firetrucks and blessing those who ride in them is similar to christening a ship and dates back to the time of horsedrawn pumpers at the end of the 19^th century, according to firefighting historians.  In Woodbury, the on-and-off tradition is 99 years old. “We don’t do this if we receive a truck in winter,” said Chief Morgan, “When we do, it’s always fun.” Oldtimers were nostalgic that horseplay used to be part of the event. “But you can’t expect radios and other electronics to be happy if you surprise firefighters from another department by filling their cab with water from a high-pressure hose,” Chief Morgan said.