The last time a new fire house was opened in Carson City was 1974, when the population of Carson City was only 23,000 people, according to Supervisor Stacey Giomi.
Giomi, a retired Carson City Fire Chief himself with 31 years of service, said that a new fire station was determined to be needed over 25 years ago, and now, as Carson City’s population is soon set to hit 60,000 people, that need has now become a reality.
The ribbon cutting and unveiling was attended by representatives both from the city as well as the state, including representatives from the offices of Senator Catherine Cortez-Masto and Congressman Mark Amodei. Giomi credited both of them for their advocacy in securing funding to bring the new facility on line.
Local first responder agencies from city, county and state levels were also in attendance, as well as recently retired Fire Chief Sean Slamon.
Following the ribbon cutting, a ceremonial apparatus “push-in” was held.
As Giomi explained, historically, when a new apparatus (such as our modern day fire engine) was brought online, it was towed by horses to the bay. Since horses couldn’t back the apparatus up, when the apparatus was in place, it would be disconnected from the horses, then pushed in.
The push-in has since become a traditional ceremony when bringing a new station or engine online, and is a chance to provide community unity. First responders, city leaders and community members joined together to push the new Engine 55 into place just before its first official dispatch brought it into service.
To learn more about the facility, see our previous reporting here:
