St. Cloud Firefighters Welcome New Ladder Truck with Push-In Ceremony, Retire Old Engine to Reserve Fleet

(KNSI) – “Engine 2, Unit 2616, officially retiring from frontline status and being placed into reserve status. Please place Unit 1325 in service as Ladder 2 as our new frontline apparatus,” is how St. Cloud Fire Captain Derek Anderson activated the department’s newest fire truck on Wednesday.

City leaders and community members helped firefighters at Fire Station 2 with a push-in ceremony for the ladder truck.

Fire Chief Matt Love explained to KNSI News that the tradition goes back to the 1830s. “The push-in ceremony, the apparatus housing ceremony, dates back to when we had horse-drawn fire apparatus. And so when they got back from an emergency, they would unhitch the horses, and all the firefighters would back that horse-drawn fire apparatus into the bay for the next emergency.”

He says the tradition has carried on through the years as a way to welcome new vehicles into the fleet. Love emphasized the real winners are the residents. “They’re going to get a state-of-the-art piece of fire apparatus, and even more importantly, it’s staffed with firefighters that know what they’re doing, and this is going to get them safely to their emergencies. I certainly hope this truck does not have to visit your home, but if it did, I feel very confident that it can perform and it can get our firefighters to you safely.”

At the same time, they paid tribute to a new fire engine for Fire Station 3, near Talahi Community School, on the southeast side of town.

Love explained replacing two trucks doesn’t necessarily mean the old ones will end up in the boneyard. “They go into what we call reserve status. And so, as trucks break down for maintenance, you need a backup truck. And so, those fire trucks become those backup trucks to still protect the city.”

They can also be pressed into service if St. Cloud is assisting a neighboring community.

Mayor Jake Anderson told KNSI News the new equipment is part of dealing with deferred maintenance of city vehicles that has been going on for the last several years . “Fire alone, we have about $10 million in outdated equipment, including fire trucks. These slowly start chipping away at that. If you have old, outdated equipment, oftentimes it’s not up to the standards of today.”

St. Cloud will hold another push-in ceremony in late 2027 to celebrate Fire Station 6 when it opens near Tech High School. Voters approved the newest fire hall in November.

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