Photo: Carl Stevens/WBZ NewsRadio
MARBLEHEAD, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Residents got quite a spectacle in Marblehead on Thursday as a device from Civil War-era got ready for operation.
The hand-pumped fire engine was made in 1861 and dubbed the Okommakamesit, or "Okoh" for short.
Volunteers pulled it up to Red's Pond in Marblehead to pump and shoot water out of it's hose in preparation for a muster competition in Maine this weekend.
Earl Dillibor, the Secretary of the Okoh's volunteer team, said the machine was originally used at a Union camp in Pennsylvania.
"It apparently was mainly used there to pump water," he said.
He added that the pump will compete at the muster this weekend to "shoot the longest stream of water."
Several local residents showed up to the pond to watch the device in action.
"I think its really interesting that we're doing that in Marblehead," one resident said. "Because it's a really old town, and it's nice to have old traditions."
Another resident added that he was "amazed" by the mechanics of the device, and that people were able to build it "without all the modern machinery we have today."
WBZ's Carl Stevens (@CarlWBZ) reports.
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