"The return of Truck 53 is a step in the right direction, but I don't think it's a final step we should take," LeClair said at press conference outside Station 53 at 80th and Dodge Streets. "There are other pieces of equipment that I think are needed just as badly as 53."

The truck is being returned to service because of the recent successful contract negotiations between firefighters and the City of Omaha, said Mayor Jean Stothert, interim Fire Chief Dan Olsen and LeClair, the president of the Omaha Professional Firefighters Association.

Returning the ladder truck to service, Stothert said, means improved response times in an important area that includes two hospitals, the Crossroads Mall and "the always-busy Dodge Street corridor." Stothert credited sound budgeting decisions by fire department officials -- resulting in a $1 million surplus for 2015 -- with making the truck's return to service possible.

"A fireman got in the truck, backed up and didn't see the woman," said Eckelberry.

Calls to Green Springs Volunteer Fire Chief Greg Lowe were not returned.

The fire truck and other rescue personnel were at the reservoir after receiving a call of a small boat that had capsized, with two men overboard.

Chief Greg DeLor said the ceremony encourages a long-held tradition that goes back to the days of horse-drawn fire wagons.

The tradition embodies the meticulous care firefighters take of their equipment. Once the truck receives its symbolic wet down, fire department members moved to the front of the 80,000-pound truck to roll it back into the bay. DeLor said rolling the truck into the bay is more symbolic today due to the weight of the truck. The firefighters received a little help from the engine to move the huge rig back into place.

The old rig 1521 was put into service in 1993 and served the department of 23 years. It was sold to the Plattsburg, Mo., fire department. The new 1521 rig is a 2016 Pierce manufactured in Appleton, Wis. It has a 100-foot aerial platform, 2,000-gallon-per-minute pump, a 300-gallon tank and a 10-kilowatt generator.