New London - When hundreds of firetrucks descend on the city Sunday, many will have their lights flashing and their sirens blaring.
But they will not be responding to an emergency.
Thousands of firefighters from Connecticut, Rhode Island and New York are expected to parade down Montauk Avenue Sunday afternoon at the culmination of the 127th Connecticut State Firefighters Convention.
"This is the granddaddy of parades,'' said Jack Platt Jr., past chief of Mohegan Fire Co. in Montville and chairman of the convention and parade. "It's going to be big."
Representatives from 100 departments, 20 marching bands and 260 pieces of fire equipment will arrive early and start marching at noon down Montauk Avenue. The parade will start at Lawrence & Memorial Hospital and end at Lower Boulevard. Platt expects that the parade, which will pass a reviewing stage at Michael's Dairy, will take four hours.
Marchers will gather on the boardwalk at Ocean Beach Park immediately after the parade for a party. More than 50 trophies will be awarded.
"There'll be pumpers, ladders, rescue trucks and antiques,'' Platt said. "All types, sizes and colors. Everything you can think of in fire services ... support vehicles, ambulances, brush trucks. I think there will be a boat or two hauled by a service vehicle."
Some of the parade highlights include an 1800s horse-drawn steam engine from the Yantic Fire Department in Norwich, and the Woodland String Band, a division of Mummers out of Philadelphia. The band will also perform after the parade at Ocean Beach.
The New London Department is sending three engines and a truck, including its new 2010 Rosenbauer/Spartan truck.
The Governor's Foot Guard will lead the first honorary division with grand marshal Robert "Red" McKeon, past chief of the Occum Fire Department.
Organizers are keeping an eye on the weather, especially Hurricane Igor out in the Atlantic Ocean, which by midweek was posing no threat to the Connecticut shore.
The New London County Fire Chief's Association is the host of the parade, which was last held in the city in 1993.
