Two historic hand-powered fire engines from Bath, Maine, joined teams from across New England on Saturday for the first Hand Tub Muster held in West Newbury in decades, celebrating a firefighting tradition dating back more than 175 years.
Hosted by the West Newbury Veteran Firefighters Association at Burnham Field/Cammett Park, the July 18 event featured antique hand tubs from Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Connecticut competing to see which team could pump water the farthest using only human power.
Representing Bath were the General Bates and Quansigamog hand tubs, which competed alongside teams from Ashburnham, Newbury, West Newbury and Southborough, Massachusetts, as well as Mystic, Connecticut, and Newmarket, New Hampshire.
Unlike modern fire engines, hand tubs rely entirely on teams of volunteers. Between 10 and 40 people rapidly raise and lower long wooden handles, known as brakes, to power pistons that force water through the engine. During the competition, each team received a 15-minute window to make multiple attempts, with judges measuring the distance from the nozzle to the farthest point where the water stream landed.
The muster marked the return of the event to West Newbury after many years and drew spectators from around the region to watch the antique equipment in action.
The event highlighted both the history of volunteer firefighting and the longstanding tradition of hand tub competitions that continues to bring together communities across New England.
0 Comments