![4458 at Rosenbauer in South Dakota](https://www.northsonomacoastfpd.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/20240501-20240501_094236.jpg)
After four years of effort NSC welcomes new Engine 4458 to its fleet as of August 2024! E4458 is a “type 6” engine that has been custom designed for our needs on the coast. E4458 has a Ford F550 chassis and a buildup custom built by Rosenbauer in South Dakota. It can respond to fires, medical aids, rescues, and vehicle accidents. It is four-wheel drive and while not a “small” vehicle it is smaller and more agile than the larger engines used to fight structure fires, and can reach areas in our rural district that the larger engines cannot. E4458 is our “first-out” vehicle, the one that our CAL FIRE staff responds in to most incidents. It replaces aging rescue truck 4432. By replacing a rescue vehicle without firefighting capability with a “type 6” engine, we have increased the departments ability to respond to incidents involving fire.
All of the additional firefighting equipment and tools necessary to equip E4458 was provided by the NSC Volunteer Firefighter Association, from community donations. Thank you for your support!
The department welcomed E4458 into service with a traditional “push-in” ceremony. At the push-in we thank those who helped make the engine a reality, bless the engine, spray it with water and then as a team dry it off, and manually push it back into the bay where it will respond from. This is a long-standing fire department tradition recalling the earliest fire engines that were horse-drawn and had to be pushed back into their stations by the fire crews. Please see the video and photo album of the event below.
We extend huge thanks to longtime supporter and fine photographer Craig Tooley for the images.