In Focus: Chehalis Fire Department celebrates new ambulance with push-in ceremony

First responders and attendees participate in a push-in ceremony for the new North Star Ambulance at the Chehalis Fire Department on Tuesday, Feb. 24. Chehalis Fire Chief Adam Fulbright welcomed Chehalis residents, local leaders and Chehalis firefighters and paramedics to the push-in ceremony for the department’s newest ambulance at 5 p.m. Tuesday at the department’s station along Sitka Street in Chehalis. After a short speech from Fulbright and a blessing from Chaplain Brian Carter, attendees, including Chehalis Mayor Tony Ketchum, lined up on the front side of the new vehicle to push it back into the equipment bay behind it. According to Fulbright, the ceremony, which acts to christen new fire vehicles, harkens back to the days when fire vehicles were pulled by horses and had to be pushed backward by hand into an equipment bay.