Now-Second Deputy Fire Chief Joe Forgione had just put the license plates on the Liberty Hose Co.’s new pumper last November 7 when, “next thing we knew, the fire call comes in,” he said.

The alarm was for a blaze that heavily damaged a house on South Pearl Street. “Everything worked well, so it’s been tested,” Forgione said of the vehicle.

Today, the 2,000-gallons-per-minute pumper is being formally inaugurated at the borough-owned firehouse on White Street.

The vehicle cost $480,000 and is owned by the borough. Liberty’s building is one of the three firehouses in town owned by the borough; the other two are on Drummond Place and Mechanic Street, next to the municipal lot. The other three are company-owned. All are staffed by volunteers.

The wet-down ceremony starts at noon and runs until 5p. A portion of White Street will be closed in the interim, but the public parking lot opposite the firehouse will be open and accessible.

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