Jeremy Chisenhall
The Macon Telegraph
(TNS)

A Twiggs County fire truck was flipped over by a pickup truck while firefighters were trying to respond to a car fire earlier this week, officials say.

“When the fire truck slowed down, it was struck in the rear by a GMC Sierra going at a high rate of speed, causing the Fire Truck to flip over on its roof,” the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post.

Both drivers were taken to Atrium Health Hospital to be treated for minor injuries, the sheriff’s office said.

“Lights and sirens mean you must stay away from a moving fire truck by AT LEAST 500 feet,” the sheriff’s office said. “Also, pull over to the right to give the fire truck room to pass through. The results of this accident could have been so much worse. A vehicle can be replaced, but a life cannot. Please be aware. Be safe. Pay attention.”

© 2025 The Macon Telegraph (Macon, Ga.). Visit www.macon.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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MOOSE BOATS—Woodbridge Fire District, Sacramento River Delta, CA, M3-36 fireboat. 36-foot monohull; twin 300-hp Mercury outboard engines; dedicated Volvo Penta V8 marine engine powers a Darley SD 500-gpm pump; remote controlled rooftop TFT Typhoon monitor and one TFT monitor on the bow; proprietary dive/rescue swimmer door and step. Dealer: Moose Boats, Vallejo, CA.

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SEDRO-WOOLLEY — The Sedro-Woolley Fire Department officially welcomed its new engine Wednesday afternoon, June 11, with a Push-In Ceremony.

“This is a tradition that some departments have done when they receive a new fire engine or apparatus to celebrate,” Fire Chief Frank Wagner said. “It started back in the horse-drawn fire service days when members had to push the equipment back into the station after they unhooked their horses.

“So that became tradition, a celebration when you got a new apparatus, for good luck and then to show the dedication and commitment from the community and to show some pride from the agency, they hold Push-In Ceremonies.”

This ceremony, however, was the first of its kind for the department.

“This just signifies dedication, teamwork and just honoring the past,” firefighter Bobby Castilleja said. “We also want to thank the community for giving us the money to purchase a new apparatus and to thank the community for their dedication and support.”

After being in the works for years, the Rosenbauer company of South Dakota’s fire engine and its accompanying upgrades — at a cost of about $1.1 million — finally arrived.

“We have literally … been saving for this rig for over 20 years,” Wagner said. “This rig is going to replace one that is over 22 years old.

“This is a huge investment in not only our firefighters and their safety with having new equipment, but to our community as well.”

Members of the community, including Mayor Julia Johnson, along with Wagner and Assistant Chiefs Glen and Jerry Gardner, as well as numerous department personnel, put their backs into “pushing” the rig into the bay.

Pushing may have been a bit of a misnomer, seeing how Castilleja was seated behind the wheel and may or may not have had the rig creeping in reverse.

“We should have got it over a year-and-a-half ago, and we are still waiting on some equipment, but we are almost there,” Wagner said.

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During the next few weeks, new equipment and accompanying upgrades will continue to be installed.

“When we have the time, it’s more screws and more bolts,” Glen Gardner said. “I’ve been in there 10 hours a day, bolting more things in and working with the mechanics. It has definitely been a lot of work.”

Wagner added that most of that time was spent figuring out where everything was going to fit and where it was going to be most functional.

“We are literally building three trucks right now,” he said. “Finding out where certain equipment goes and where it works best.”

The specs are the same between all of the department’s apparatuses of this type.

“As we transition, the idea is

KEEPING IT SAFE

BY ROBERT TUTTEROW

As many of us are aware, most fire departments are struggling with recruitment and retention. Even major metro departments that used to have thousands of people take their entrance exams are now seeing those numbers reduced by up to 90 percent.

There are several factors leading to this change. One that has caught my attention is the fact that in addition to firefighting being an inherently dangerous job, it is now seen as a very unhealthy one.

I will suggest that today’s parents might be discouraging their children to have an interest in the fire service because of health and safety factors. We know there are a lot of parents who discourage their young children from participating in football because of the likelihood of injury.

I think there is also a lack of work ethic among today’s youth, especially as it relates to manual work—thanks to way too much screen time. I also must acknowledge that there are a few exceptions to this lack of work ethic, as some of today’s youth are remarkable in what they do.

So, if the safety and health risks are a deterrent to recruiting new members, what can be done to change that? Can we wait on robots and AI to replace us? I am more skeptical about this happening than some. Some have suggested that we just quit talking about the job being risky and unhealthy. But, that is totally disingenuous.

Let’s use military jobs as a comparison. Clearly, there are inherent risks involved in enlisting in one of the military branches. If the data being reported are correct, the number of young people applying to the armed forces has increased in recent months after a period of decline. Perhaps there are things we can glean from this recent change without getting political. Though I do not have firsthand experience with current military technology, I understand it is quite robust and far superior to the technology we use in the fire service.

The advances in warfare technology are certainly far superior to what they used to be. Take a tour of Gettysburg for a perspective on the change in warfare technology. And, I would be remiss if I did not mention the discipline component of the military. While I do not propose a military type of discipline structure throughout the fire service, there are a lot of health and safety risks that would be minimized with the proper adoption of military discipline principles.

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Following along with the military comparison, there is the parallel track that the fire service must be considered critical infrastructure. This includes its members, its fleet, its facilities, its equipment, and its training. And, it must be funded accordingly. The backbone of this infrastructure is the health and safety of its members. What is the emphasis on health and safety among those serving in the military? Think about that one for a long time.

We also need to do a better job of marketing what we do and how we do it. Appearance is important. We need to provide a look that creates a positive impression on our customers instead of focusing on making our own self-impression. As a former wise old civilian fire department employee once told me, “Firefighters dress and act to impress each other.”