Heads Up January 20, 2023

Fire-Rescue to “push in” refurbished engine Monday

You are invited to attend the introduction of a newly refurbished Boulder Fire-Rescue engine with a push-in ceremony on Monday, Jan. 23 at 1 p.m. at Boulder Fire-Rescue Station 3, 1585 30th St.

Engine 2503 originally went into service in 2010 as Engine 2502 at Station 2, located at Broadway and Baseline. As 2502, it served The Hill and University of Colorado neighborhoods. This engine will now return to service as 2503 out of Station 3.

Due to the two-plus year backlog in fire engine ordering, as well as this particular engine meeting multiple requirements, this engine was one of the few in service eligible for refurbishment. After 10 months of work, 2503 is completely refurbished and ready to return to service for our community. This project was funded through the fleet replacement fund and overseen by Boulder Fire-Rescue Engineers Scott Falconer and Curtis Stocker and Battalion Chiefs John Nunez and Travis Richen.

The “push-in” ceremony is a long-standing tradition in the fire service, dating back to the 1800s when fire department apparatus were horse-drawn steamer engines. Since horses struggle to walk backwards when pulling a load, the horses were detached, and firefighters would push the engine back into the bay. This ritual is now a tradition as we celebrate putting a new engine into service.

Parking is limited at Station 3. Please park at Scott Carpenter Park’s parking lot for the ceremony.

For more information about this equipment or ceremony, please contact Fire Chief Mike Calderazzo at calderazzom@bouldercolorado.gov.

Community Connectors share feedback, observations of the Safe and Managed Spaces program

In case you missed it, Community Connectors-in-Residence have shared their observations of the city’s work with unhoused community members and unsanctioned camping after concluding a ride-a-long with the Safe and Managed Spaces Team.

As council may recall, the group’s assessment was requested as part of the budget discussion at council’s Oct. 6, 2022, meeting. The goal was to elevate the observations and reflections of historically underrepresented communities in one of the most challenging areas of current city policy.

To fulfill this request, Community Connectors-in-Residence participated in two ride-along opportunities in November and December 2022. These included a session where notice was provided to occupants of unsanctioned camping and a session where clean-up occurred. In general, participants were grateful to learn more about the program, acknowledged the complexity of the issue, and appreciated the compassion with which the cross-departmental city team approaches the work.

The full report was part of the information packet for council’s Jan. 19, 2023, meeting.

For more information about Community Connectors-in-Residence, please visit their program webpage or contact Ryan Hanschen, Community Engagement Manager, at hanschenr@bouldercolorado.gov.

Regards,
Nuria