The Semmes Fire Rescue Department held a special ceremony Thursday as it put its new fire engine into service, Fox10tv.com reported. The new truck was dedicated with a push-in ceremony, a long tradition of the fire service.

The community came together to help welcome Engine-1 to the fire department fleet, with everyone lending a hand to push the truck into the bay.

A fire official said this is the department’s first custom-built engine, the report said. The new truck cost nearly $600,000.

The department now has three frontline fire engines, one reserve, a couple of brush trucks and a hazmat trailer, according to the report.

• Semmes (AL) Fire Rescue Truck Overturns

Two Erie fire companies will split $216,300 in state grant funding for new resources, ErieNewsNow.com reported. 

The funding includes $146,300 to Brookside Fire Company for self-contained breathing apparatus units, including 19 packs and 18 cylinders and batters, the report said. 

Perry Hi-Way Hose Company will receive $70,000 for training support, according to the report. 

The funding was administered through the Department of Community and Economic Development. 

After voters passed a levy lid lift to fund 24/7 medically trained staff in August, Toutle Fire and Rescue is getting money from Cowlitz County to help equip volunteers and its new staff, tdn.com reported.

On January 3, the Cowlitz County commissioners approved an agreement for $216,000 with Cowlitz County Fire District 3 to fund the purchase of additional fire and emergency medical equipment, after allocating the money during a November 30 workshop, the report said.

The money will be used to upgrade outdated breathing apparatus, purchase a gurney lift and install sprinklers in the station’s sleeping quarters, said a fire official.

An Easton fire truck responding to an emergency call January 3 swerved into a wooded area to avoid a civilian vehicle, the Easton Fire Department said in a written statement, EnterpriseNews.com reported.

On Tuesday at approximately 1 p.m., in the area of 539 Bay Road, a vehicle “failed to yield while going around a second vehicle that had stopped for the fire engine and subsequently crossed into the path of the engine,” the statement said.

At the time, the engine had its lights and sirens activated, according to the report.

Two firefighters were treated for minor injuries, and the engine “sustained some damage,” according to the fire department. There were no civilian injuries or vehicle damage.

Easton police cited the vehicle for “failing to yield to an emergency vehicle,” following an investigation into the incident, the report said.