Oviedo tower truck For the first time in more than a decade and a half, the Oviedo Fire Department has a tower truck ready to respond to emergencies in the community. (WFTV.com News Staff)

OVIEDO, Fla. — For the first time in more than a decade and a half, the Oviedo Fire Department has a tower truck ready to respond to emergencies in the community.

The department held a “push in” ceremony for Tower 46 on Friday morning.

Oviedo Fire Chief Michael Woodward said the truck will help increase the level of service the department is able to provide without it having to rely on neighboring departments like Seminole County, in cases such as high-angle rescues.

“As anyone who drives through the city of Oviedo can see, we’re booming with development and most of that is not just single story, it’s multi-story,” Woodward said. “In order for us to effectively provide service to our community now, we have to have this capability within our city.”

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To celebrate the truck’s entry into service, it was “wet-down” by a fire hose, dried and then pushed into the station bay to commemorate that the unit is ready to serve the community.

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Sarah Wilson joined WFTV Channel 9 in 2018 as a digital producer after working as an award-winning newspaper reporter for nearly a decade in various communities across Central Florida.

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