On Friday, July 17, Columbia Fire and Rescue will hold a Push-In Ceremony and open house at Station 5 to officially place a new fire engine into service. The public is invited.
The ceremony itself is worth understanding because most people have never seen one. Before motorized fire engines existed, horse-drawn pumpers returned from fires and had to be manually pushed back into the station. The horses could pull a wagon forward but not back it in. Firefighters would unhitch the animals, wash down the equipment, and push the pumper through the station doors themselves. The tradition survived long after horses were replaced by engines.
Some of that era never left at all. Firefighters still call the apparatus room the barn, because that is exactly what it was, a working stable where horses waited beside the rigs, ready to be harnessed the moment the alarm sounded. The name outlasted the animals by more than a century. Walk into any fire station in America and ask where the engine is parked. The answer will be the same: in the barn.
A push-in ceremony is a department saying, together and in front of its community: this equipment is in our care now, and so are you.
The engine getting that welcome is one The Muletown Journal first told you about back in June, when the City of Columbia placed a new $925,000 KME Panther pumper into service as part of a broader push to strengthen the department's capabilities. It is a serious piece of apparatus: a 1,000-gallon water tank, a 1,500-gallon-per-minute pump, and a Class A foam system, the kind of capacity that lets a crew get water on a structure fast and keep it flowing before a hydrant or water tender ever comes into play. Fire Chief Chris Cummins said at the time that the new engine positions the department to respond more effectively as Columbia continues to grow in population and geography. Friday is the day Station 5 makes it official.
Station 5 serves the residents and businesses in its district around the clock, and a new engine means better capacity, newer technology, and upgraded tools for the crews responding to emergencies at any hour.
The open house runs alongside the ceremony, giving neighbors a chance to walk through the station, meet the firefighters who serve their part of the city, and see the new engine up close. These events are not common. When a fire department opens its doors and invites the public in, it is worth showing up.
Friday, July 17. Columbia Fire and Rescue Station 5. Bring the kids.
Sources: City of Columbia and Columbia Fire and Rescue announcements, July 2026. The Muletown Journal prior reporting, June 18, 2026.