Wetdown
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- For the U.S. Navy ceremony, see Wetting-down.
Many volunteer fire departments in the United States celebrate the arrival of a new piece of apparatus with a wetdown. Mostly an excuse to party, a wetdown is a large celebration in which the neighboring fire departments share in the joy of a new fire engine or truck by coming with their engines and wetting down the new truck, something easily interpreted as a metaphor for baptism[attribution needed]. The ceremony also borrows from the tradition of christening a newly commissioned ship. The engine is a firefighter's lifeline; this is why great care is given to its maintenance and appearance.
