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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 (FEMA).
On March 8th CCFR performed a traditional “push-in” ceremony at Station 151 - by manually pushing the new fire engine into the apparatus bay. CCFR 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.
Station 151 was conceptualized and placed into service by a joint venture between Clark County Fire District 11, Clark County Fire District 12, and Clark County Fire District 6 – after all three departments recognized the need for increased coverage in the Fairground neighborhood. At that time, coverage was provided primarily by a volunteer and part-time career response. Since the merger of Clark County Fire District 11 and Clark County Fire District 12 into Clark-Cowlitz Fire Rescue, CCFR wanted to be sure we are able to service the Fairgrounds citizens quickly and efficiently. With that, CCFR currently provides career staffing at Station 151 on one of three shifts, and we are excited to work with Clark County Fire District 6 on increasing that career coverage to the two remaining shifts. Station 151 also houses the Clark County Sheriff's Office West Precinct and the Clark County Fire Marshal’s staff.
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 Fire Chief John 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”.
Ceremony video can be viewed on Clark-Cowlitz Fire Rescue's Facebook page
Clark-Cowlitz Fire Rescue (CCFR) serves 40,000 people over 125 square miles, including the cities of La Center, Ridgefield, Woodland, and the Cowlitz Indian Tribe. Our combination department includes full-time and volunteer firefighters responding to an average of 4200 fire and emergency medical calls a year. CCFR also provides a wide array of Community Risk Reduction programs including fire inspections, building plan reviews, and a Community Paramedic program. CCF&R operates under a balanced budget and has a history of passing independent financial audits by the state.