FAIRGROUNDS — Clark-Cowlitz Fire Rescue is honored to put a new fire engine into service at Station 151, located in the Fairgrounds neighborhood. The 2023 Pierce fire engine is the fourth new fire engine that CCFR has received over the last year, replacing a 2009 Pierce fire engine housed at this station — which will now become the primary backup engine for the district. Three of the apparatus were purchased by the fire district, and one was purchased by the Cowlitz Indian Tribe — through a generous grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
On March 8, Clark-Cowlitz Fire Rescue performed a traditional “push-in” ceremony at Station 151 — by manually pushing the new fire engine into the apparatus bay. Rescue personnel, including Fire Commissioner Stan Chunn and Fire Commissioner Dave Town, were assisted in this ceremony by members of Clark County Fire District 6 — including Fire Chief Kristan Maurer.
As explained by Fire Chief John Nohr, the push-in ceremony is a fire service tradition that dates back to the late 1800s when fire departments used hand-drawn pumpers and horse-drawn equipment. Upon returning to the station after a fire call, the horses could not back the equipment into the station, so the horses were disconnected from the fire equipment and firefighters would push the equipment back into the bay manually. This tradition of “returning your pumper into service” has carried over until today — but now marks the occasion when a new apparatus is first placed into service.
According to Nohr, “We are excited to finally be updating our fleet of fire apparatus. Many of our front-line engines and trucks were getting tired. We are thankful for our fire commissioners and their commitment to helping us move forward with the purchase of multiple fire engines over this two-year period.”
