January 5, 2022 3:50 a.m.

The City of Roseburg Fire Department will be dedicating the community’s newest fire engine with a traditional “Push In” ceremony on Thursday morning at 9:00 a.m.

Battalion Chief Randy Babbitt said the event will be held at Station Two on West Harvard Avenue. Babbit said the dedication will consist of a ceremonial wash-down of the engine, which will then be pushed by hand into the apparatus bay of its new firehouse. Babbitt said the dedication ceremony is new to RFD, but has been a tradition in the fire service since the days of horse drawn fire apparatus.

The new engine is a 2021 Pierce Impel 1500 gallon per minute pumper. Babbitt said it is a state-of-the art pumper and was designed and outfitted by RFD Apparatus Committee members. The pumper was purchased through Hughes Fire Equipment and manufactured by Pierce Manufacturing in Appleton, Wisconsin.