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.