ORANGE — Engine 2 is at your service, and rest assured it has been blessed.
Thursday night, the new Orange firetruck “Engine 2” underwent a blessing, with firefighters from both past and present, as well as a firefighter chaplain, on hand for the ceremony.
Outside of the downtown Orange fire station, the new truck glistened with a shining American flag graphic embedded on its front and stylized gold letters reading “Orange” emblazoned on the front and sides.
Dozens of residents crowded around the new public safety vehicle for a brief introduction from Fire Chief James Young, followed by former Orange Fire Department Capt. Harry Brown — who retired as the captain of the previous Engine 2 — reciting “The Fireman’s Prayer.”
“When I am called to duty, God, whenever flames may rage, give me strength to save some life, whatever be its age,” he said. “Help me embrace a little child before it is too late, or save an older person from the horror of that fate. Enable me to be alert and hear the weakest shout, and quickly, and efficiently to put the fire out. I want to fill my calling, and to give the best in me, to guard my every neighbor and protect his property. And if, according to my fate, I am to lose my life, please bless with your protecting hand my family, friends and wife.”
Brown looked back at the Orange firefighters surrounding the new vehicle, and said, “The words of this prayer reflect the desires and hopes of these folks here.”
The Orange Fire Department gained the new engine at the Special Town Meeting last August along with several other upgrades, including three new full-time firefighter/EMT positions, a modernized air compressor system and a fixed roof — upgrades which were mostly covered by grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Two articles were passed unanimously to allow spending of $23,809, as well as a $50,000 transfer from the town’s capital stabilization account, to match the $500,000 from FEMA for the new fire engine.
“Engine 2 will carry our firefighters into a world that so few few of us experience,” Young said. “A world with excitement, danger and sometimes unspeakable tragedy.”
Also present was the Rev. Bruce Arbour, assistant chief chaplain of the Massachusetts Corps of Fire Chaplains.
“We ask your blessing upon it and all who serve,” Arbour said. “And may we be forever grateful for the sacrifice of those who give up their time and their talent and even their lives for the sake of others through the selfless service of firefighters.”
After Arbour blessed the vehicle, it was driven past the crowd and beneath a steady stream of water provided by Engine 1 — a traditional “wetdown” ceremony common during the commissioning new fire engines.
The department originally applied for a $600,000 grant to replace its 1987 truck because new firetrucks typically cost upwards of $700,000.
While the new truck will not include “every bell and whistle,” Young said, it is a necessary and “well thought out” addition to the town’s Fire Department, and will get the job done. The vehicle is expected to last 20 to 25 years.
Reach David McLellan at dmclellan@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 268.