SCFD Chief Milo Lambert, second from right, and personnel, push new fire engine into bay at Station 2.

Photo and article by Roger Lanse

On-duty personnel of Silver City Fire Department No 2 Station on 32nd Street pushed their new engine into its bay Tuesday morning. Sept. 12, 2023. According to SCFD Chief Milo Lambert, the 'pushing' is a commemoration of a decades long custom dating to the horse-drawn engine days when after working a fire, the horses were unhooked from the engine and the engine pushed backward into the bay by the firefighters.

Milo told the Beat the new engine from Iowa was ordered last August and cost $607,000 -- $300,000 from a state grant and the rest from the Town of Silver City general fund. It replaces an engine put into service in 2008. That engine joins two others which will be auctioned off in the future.

Lambert explained the new engine is a 'clean-cab' model. After working a fire, the firefighters can undress in the cab, and the cab can be easily cleaned to prevent carcinogens brought in on their clothes and gear from building up. "We try to eliminate as much cancer-causing issues as possible," Lambert said.