NEDERLAND - The Nederland Fire Protection District (NFPD) has experienced a challenging year, but on Sunday, October 26, 2025, the community came to lend their firefighters a hand in christening the newest addition to the District’s fleet, and to push the fire engine through the bay doors into the station. 

The Push In Ceremony gave Nederland residents a chance to meet their community firefighters and to tour the station, to see the inner workings of the fire department, and even check out some of their equipment: the new ambulance, and of course engine 5601, the NFPD’s new workhorse. 

“It’s not like going to the car dealership and just saying, ‘I’ll take the red one,’” Chief Charlie Schmidtmann joked, before detailing the lengthy process he and his team went through in order to get the engine perfectly attuned to the District’s needs.

“It has been a long, long process. Years ago, around 2019, the Board began to change, and they looked at the aging apparatus that we have here. They put a plan together, they got some community engagement, and they put together a ballot for our mill levy, and with the community support we were able to get the mill passed,” Schmidtmann explained.

“So not only were we able to get the funding to replace this engine, but we were able to replace an ambulance and also one of our brush trucks, and obviously we couldn’t do this without our community. The community, over and over again, shows their support for the fire department, and I can’t go without saying thank you.” 

Firefighter Larissa Briscombe presented a plaque to be featured on the new engine, dedicating it to NFPD Lieutenant Ken Kehoe, who volunteered for Nederland Fire for 12 years. before passing away on August 13, 2025.

“We’ll honor you every time we roll out on this engine,” Briscombe said, before revealing the plaque, which included one of Lt. Kehoe’s most notorious quotes, “Have you done your truck checks?”

Schmidtmann described the history behind the Push In Ceremony, which dates back to the days when fire fighting apparatus were pulled by horses.

“When the fire crews in the 1800s were done fighting fire, they couldn’t back the horses into the fire hall. They would have to disconnect the horses and have to manually push the carriage back in. After that they would wash down the horses and dry them so they would be ready for the next service call,” Schmidtmann explained.

Firefighters lined up and waited until instructed to hose down the new engine, with every firefighter, Lieutenant, Captain, and also the Fire Marshal taking a turn on every side of the truck. Some firefighters, as well as some members of the community, got caught in the crossfire .

After the hose down, the community grabbed rags and began drying off the engine. Once the truck was dry, everyone gathered together around the engine, placing their hands on it and finding areas to grip. As the chocks were removed from the back tires, everyone struggled and pushed forward as a community, bringing the new engine home.