OAK HARBOR, Ohio — Editor's note: The above video comes from a story that originally aired on February 25.
The Portage Fire District in Ottawa County has a brand new, bright red, 61,040 lb. tanker as of Saturday afternoon.
As tradition dictates the new tanker was pushed into place at its new home on Water St. in Oak Harbor by members of the community.
That tradition dates back to the department’s founding in 1866 when people, not horses, pushed and pulled the district’s first fire engine, according to Chief Barrett Dorner.
At that time, the department was called the Charles Roose Hose Company and was made up of 17 employees of the Charles Roose stave factory in Oak Harbor.
Two dozen people turned out for the ceremony on Saturday.
The new tanker cost a little over $600,000 and was paid for with funds from an operating levy voters passed decades ago from which the district has been saving up, according to Chief Dorner.
It replaces the district’s 1989 tanker.
Chief Dorner says the new tanker has technology and capabilities that will help them better respond to emergencies, including the ability to ‘vacuum’ water out of ponds and rivers when there are no hydrants close-by.
Portage Fire District serves the Village of Oak Harbor and Salem Township and parts of Benton Township.
The district also responds to emergencies across Ottawa and Sandusky Counties through mutual aid agreements.
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