By John Murray
Retired Waterbury firefighter Coral Barnes leaned against a new firetruck at the Willow Street firehouse during a dedication ceremony held this afternoon for the new apparatus. The image of Barnes at a ceremony where the firetruck was being baptized and blessed by Fire Department Chaplin Ronald Ferraro was especially significant since Barnes was seriously injured in an accident in 2007 when two Waterbury fire trucks collided, and Captain John Keane lost his life.
Waterbury Mayor Neil O’Leary addressed a small audience gathered inside Engine Company 6 on Willow Street before the blessing of the firetruck. O’Leary reminicised about his childhood when he spent time in firehouses with his father, who was a Waterbury firefighter. The $400,000 truck is the latest in the fleet of the Waterbury Fire Department, with another $500,000 truck in the pipeline.