EMMETT, Idaho — City leaders and firefighters are preparing to meet bigger demands and keep the city safe with the addition of Engine 3, the first new fire engine in a decade for Emmett.
"This engine will not only fight wildland fire or urban interface, but it will also do a good job of fighting structure fires as well," Fire Chief Curt Christensen said.
Emmett fire and school leaders invited the community to a celebration Thursday morning, where students from the Carberry Elementary Student Council joined the fire station to help push the 2026 Pierce fire engine into the bay and officially put it into service.
Idaho State Fire Marshal Knute Sandahl attended the ceremony, giving the students a brief history lesson on the fire service. He explained that the push-in ceremony is a tradition dating back to the 1700s and 1800s, when crews had to physically push horse-drawn, steam-driven fire engines back into the station after a call.
"It's a great day to be living in Emmett," Mayor Gordon Petrie said.
Watch to see Emmett's new fire Engine 3.
The new engine replaces two other wildland engines that are over 30 years old. The $600,000 rig was paid for with a mix of city funds — about $170,000 — and hundreds of thousands of dollars earned when Emmett firefighters deployed to help fight wildland fires across Idaho and as far away as California and Oregon.
Christensen highlighted the dedication of firefighters like Bo Patterson, a volunteer who spent 10 years becoming a certified engine boss to lead those deployments. The department even saved the city up to $12,000 by picking the engine up in February and driving it home themselves rather than having it delivered.
"Their training is at the same level as the big towns in this state, and I would put this crew up against any of them," Petrie said.
Christensen described the new engine as a "unicorn" because it features two pumps. One allows the engine to "pump and roll" — spraying water while driving down the road to fight wildland fires. The other is a larger pump that engages when stopped, capable of putting out 1,000 gallons of water per minute and connecting to a hydrant to fight structure fires.
The engine can carry up to five firefighters and 500 gallons of water, and is equipped with shovels, hoes, and chainsaws for roof access.
Petrie, who has served as mayor for 10 years, said Engine 3 is the first new engine of his administration. He said the idea for the rig started at least seven years ago after a significant urban interface fire north and east of town. District 1 Fire District initially handled the fire but asked Emmett for assistance as it spread.
At the time, Emmett only had Engine 1 available, which is a structure fire engine. Petrie noted it did "OK" because it has big tires, but it was not the kind of engine you want to take into a field with gopher holes. That incident prompted Chief Christensen to start planning for a dedicated wildland crew and engine.
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With new neighborhoods and projects being built on brush and grasslands, the department says this engine will help them meet the demands of a bigger, busier community.
Petrie noted that while growth in the area has been increasing, there has been a slight slowdown in the last month or two. He explained that much of the perceived growth in Emmett is an "optical illusion" because the real growth is happening in the county. However, those residents use Emmett's main thoroughfares since it is the only incorporated city and the county seat.
"We've been able to manage it, and we're gonna do our best to continue to manage it," Petrie said.
Christensen said most of the firefighters at the department have been there for over 10 years. He hopes to duplicate this funding model in the future — going on wild-land deployments and reinvesting the leftover money back into the fire department to increase capacity.
But the department is also looking 10 years down the road in a different way. Christensen said involving local students in the push-in ceremony is an investment in the future of the department. He noted that some current firefighters and paramedics first interacted with the department at that same age.
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"We look at these people and we have passion, and so we're spreading that passion to them and hopefully, you know, they'll become public servants at some point," Christensen said.
Petrie shared a personal connection to that generational impact. His oldest grandchild, now 24, started as a junior volunteer firefighter for District 1 in Emmett. His grandson was so dedicated to answering call-outs that he would get home at 5 a.m., try to get an hour of sleep before school, and eventually quit football his junior year because he was too tired. His grandson is now a full-time firefighter and paramedic in Petrie's old hometown of Lewiston, Idaho.
During the ceremony, the department also introduced Greg Layton, the new community risk reduction specialist and fire marshal, who brings 28 years of fire experience to Emmett. Layton said he looks forward to partnering with the community and visiting classrooms to teach fire prevention.
Following a dedication prayer, Deputy Chief Vickery officially called county dispatch over the radio to place Engine 3 into service before the crowd pushed it into the bay and celebrated with cookies.
Christensen said the new equipment is important, but the people operating it are what matter most.
"It really is the firefighters. They're the heart of this firehouse, and their dedication is what made today possible," Christensen said.
