The fire department is dedicating its newest fire engine to the memory of the 10-year department veteran, Lt. Gordon Liverance, in a ceremony Saturday. The 44-year-old man died in a motorcycle crash in 2011.
The truck has Liverance’s initials and number on its side, GDL #44, and also will have his nickname emblazoned across the front of the truck — Flash Gordon.
The ceremony to dedicate the truck in Liverance’s name will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at the fire hall, 3848 Lapeer Road.
Fire Chief Craig Miller said dedicating the truck in Liverance’s memory is symbolic for his second family at the department.
“We know in our hearts he’s watching over us, he’s taking care of us,” Miller said. “We also know he’d be right there with us in the truck.”
The department received the truck in January, replacing a firetruck from 1983. The truck was paid for out of the township’s general fund at a cost of $296,500. It is now the first truck to respond to emergencies.
This isn’t the first time the department has dedicated a truck in honor of a firefighter.
In 2010, the department dedicated its ladder truck in honor of former chief Bob Howe, who died in 2006.
And a fire engine was dedicated to firefighter Marlies Sass, who died in 2001 of an apparent heart attack at age 34.
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