Watch: Riverhead FD dedicates new tanker and chiefs’ vehicles in ‘wet-down’ ceremony

Riverhead Fire Department hosted a wet-down Saturday afternoon to dedicate and commission an important new firefighting apparatus and two new chief’s vehicles.

A wet-down is a longstanding fire service ritual, dating back to the 1800s, when pumpers were pulled by horses. At a traditional commissioning ceremony, local clergymen blessed the new horse with holy water and prayers for speed, strength, good health and a long life. 

Saturday’s wet-down didn’t involve any horses. Instead, ladder trucks and tankers rom several area departments were positioned in the parking lot of the Riverhead Fire Department headquarters. They charged their hoses and sprayed the tanker and chiefs’ vehicles as the new vehicles drove through the lot. Riverhead’s new vehicles made two passes. 

RFD Chaplain Justin Winter said a prayer and blessed all vehicles. Riverhead firefighters and their family members gathered on the edge of the parking lot to watch the watery spectacle. 

Trucks from East Marion, Flanders, Jamesport, Manorville, Mattituck, Ridge, Southampton and Wading River participated in the wet-down. Flanders Fire Department also sent an engine to stand by at Riverhead’s fire house to answer any calls during the event — and answered two calls, RFD Chief Pete Kurzyna said.

Chairman of the Board of Fire Commissioners John Tradeski Jr. handed the tanker’s keys to Every Ready Engine Co. 3 Captain Justin berry and the chiefs’ vehicles keys to the chiefs.

The new truck is a 2024 Kenworth T880 4,000-gallon water tanker. Tankers are critical for firefighting response where public water and hydrants are unavailable, or in low-pressure areas of the water district’s distribution systems. The tanker cost the district $556,000, which was paid out of the district’s equipment reserve fund, Riverhead Fire District spokesperson Ed Carey said.

Riverhead on Saturday also dedicated two new chief’s vehicles, 2023 Chevy Tahoes, to replace the aging chief’s vehicles now in use. The chiefs’ vehicles are the department’s first-responder vehicles, which the department’s chiefs use to answer every call, including calls for automatic alarms that typically don’t require response from other apparatus and personnel. The chiefs and their vehicles are running all over the district all day long, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Fully outfitted, the chief’s vehicles cost about $80,000 apiece, Carey said. The vehicles were also paid out of the district’s equipment reserve fund, he said.