NEW ASHFORD, Mass. — With a blessing from its chaplain and a ceremonial dousing from a fire hose, the New Ashford Volunteer Fire Department on Saturday christened its first new apparatus in two decades.

 

The company purchased a 2003 HME Central States pumper from the town of Pelham earlier this year.

 

On Saturday, the department held a brief ceremony during which Chaplain J.D. Hebert blessed both the new engine and the company's turnout gear.

 

After the apparatus was sprayed with a hose, a handful of New Ashford's bravest helped push it as it was backed into the station on Ingraham Road.

 

Fire Chief Frank Speth said the new engine has a 1,500 gallon pump and carries 1,000 gallons of water. And it replaces a truck that was facing some costly repairs to keep on the road.

 

"We had a 1991 Spartan," Speth said. "When we had the pump tested, it needed about $40,000 worth of repairs. Being it's almost 30 years old, I said to the town, 'We put the $40,000 in, but then how many more years can we get out of it?'

 

"Once you get into the pump situation, you get into, 'This needs to be done, and this needs to be done,' and it could be more than $40,000. So do we want to spend that amount of money to repair that engine or get something that will replace it."