More than a dozen Polk Fire Rescue personnel and three county commissioners squeezed together and heaved the hulking fire engine backward into the Kathleen Fire Station during its grand opening Thursday.

The engine push-in is a tradition more than a century old and is a mainstay of ceremonial station openings. The ceremony is a fire service tradition that dates to the late 19^th century when fire departments used hand-drawn pumpers or horse-drawn equipment.

“Upon returning to the station after a call, the horses could not easily back in the equipment into the station,” Polk Fire Chief Robert Weech said to an audience of about 100 guests and staff. “So, they were disconnected from the fire equipment and the firefighters themselves would push the equipment back into the bay. This is how we’ll open up this station.

“You guys ready?” Weech asked.

The group gathered around the front bumper, reached out to brace themselves against the machine and began to push.

“Come on, we’ve got this!” a firefighter yelled. And with a push from the group, the engine began to roll backward into place.

The new station at 6750 Kathleen Road is the newest of Polk’s stations. It’s design incorporates the latest in safety design and also incorporates future growth in the area.

“This facility has the ability to decrease carcinogen exposure that is believed to cause firefighter cancer,” Weech said. “This station was specifically designed with what is known as a red, yellow and green area that works to provide living areas that are free from suspected carcinogens and cancer-causing agents. Contaminated gear is kept away from the cleaning area, which is also kept away from the living area.

“We have incorporated the best practice models available to keep our firefighters safe,” he said.

All new fire stations in Polk County will be designed in similar ways. Three more are planned to open this year, and another four stations are planned for construction in 2022.

The City of Asheville is pleased to host a groundbreaking event for a new Public Safety Station at 316 Broadway Street in north Asheville at 10 a.m. October 18. This facility will be home to Fire Station 13, a Police Substation, the relocated Emergency Operations Center, and a small community conference room.

Brief comments will be made by Mayor Esther Manheimer, City Manager Debra Campbell, Fire Chief Scott Burnette and Police Chief David Zack.

On-street parking is available on Monte Clare and Magnolia Avenues and is a short walk to the building site.

The event will be live streamed on Facebook live at this address.

The Asheville Fire Department  identified the need for an additional fire station north of downtown to meet our goals for the standard of coverage. AFD’s performance objective is to reach all emergencies in 5 minutes 12 seconds or less, 90% of the time. The City of Asheville purchased the property on Broadway Street for this purpose in 2010. Find more information on the project on the City of Asheville’s website.

(Valparaiso, Indiana) In August 2021, Task Force Tips (TFT) introduced CrewProtect^TM, to protect first responders while riding in their apparatus. It eliminates particulates, VOCs, and aerosols containing bacteria and viruses from the cab and body air. However, upon returning to station, the crew can still be at risk of exposure to these threats and more.

That’s why TFT has partnered with Purafil – part of the largest air filtration company in the world – to integrate proven and patented filtration technology into StationProtect^TM. The device cleans the station air and protects crews from those same cancer-causing soots and VOCs, and also improves overall air quality by removing aerosols carrying viruses, bacteria and even mold. More info at https://vimeo.com/629187400/6dd3feab20.

StationProtect is designed for areas like gear rooms, sleeping quarters, and living spaces. It’s portable on casters for placement anywhere in the facility. It’s also low maintenance, easy to use with a single knob, and works on standard electrical outlets. The system includes a filtration kit that only needs to be changed annually. Systems with similar filtration technologies are used globally today in hospitals, industrial sites, schools, telecom, energy sites, agriculture, and food production.

Don’t select a system that only deals with one or two threats. StationProtect is proven technology that tackles cancer, viral, and even mold threats. For more information contact your local TFT dealer or go to https://crewprotect.net/

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About Task Force Tips:

Task Force Tips (TFT) is a leading manufacturer of live saving equipment for fire and rescue departments around the globe. Based in Valparaiso, Indiana, our mission is focused on saving lives and protecting property. More info at tft.com.

Myriad apparatus were on display at the Otter Creek (IN) Fire Department Sunday for the Rosenbauer Power Tour.

From 5-7 p.m. more than a dozen apparatus, products, vendors, and more showed up.

Officials say each of Otter Creek’s trucks are from Rosenbauer.

The tour’s next stops can be seen below: