The Willoughby Hills Fire Department will be hosting a push-in ceremony for Engine 1213 and Car 1210 this weekend. Related Articles Local News | Man charged in Riverview gunshot incident held without bail, trial date set Local News | Mentor funeral home hosting programs looking at preplanning one’s funeral Local News | Fairport Harbor Village Council recognizes LyondellBasell plant for achieving milestone Local News | Mentor Public Library hosts Ella Fitzgerald re-enactor Local News | Mentor Public Library hosts ‘We Love Chocolate’ program for children The ceremony for the new vehicles will take place at 1 p.m. Jan. 26  at the fire station, located at 35455 Chardon Road. A blessing will be given by the Rev. Terry Grachanin of St. Noel Church. According to the fire department, a firehouse push-in ceremony is a traditional event where firefighters ceremoniously push a new fire engine into the fire station, marking its official entry into service. The ceremony also dates back to the days when horse-drawn fire engines needed to be physically pushed into the station after each call. “It’s a way to celebrate and commemorate the new apparatus while involving the community,” a Willoughby Hills Fire Department Facebook post reads. Chief Robert Gandee said this is something that’s been a long time coming. “It’s been an extensive amount of time, research, development and evaluating other fire engines throughout the area to find the best ideas and layouts that would ultimately fit the needs of the community and the department,” he said. Johnson's Fire Equipment, located in Wellston, is currently working on fabricating shelves and trays to mount the majority of the equipment that will be housed on Willoughby Hills Fire Department's new engine. (Robert Gandee)Willoughby Hills Fire Rescue members recently traveled to Spartan Fire and Emergency Apparatus in Sioux Falls, S.D. to inspect their completed fire engine. (Fire Chief Robert Gandee)Willoughby Hills Fire Rescue members recently traveled to Spartan Fire and Emergency Apparatus in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to inspect their completed fire engine. (Fire Chief Robert Gandee)Willoughby Hills Fire Rescue members recently traveled to Spartan Fire and Emergency Apparatus in Sioux Falls, S.D. to inspect their completed fire engine. (Fire Chief Robert Gandee)Willoughby Hills Fire Rescue members recently traveled to Spartan Emergency Response in Charlotte, Michigan to look over their chassis for their new rescue fire engine and to get a tour of the manufacturing campus. (Submitted)Willoughby Hills Fire Rescue members recently traveled to Spartan Emergency Response in Charlotte, Michigan to look over their chassis for their new rescue fire engine and to get a tour of the manufacturing campus. (Submitted)Show Caption1 of 6Johnson's Fire Equipment, located in Wellston, is currently working on fabricating shelves and trays to mount the majority of the equipment that will be housed on Willoughby Hills Fire Department's new engine. (Robert Gandee)Expand Last year, Lt. Louis DiMattia and Gandee traveled to Johnson’s Fire Equipment in Wellston to pick up the new fire engine prior to its arrival. The coarse adjustment of many of the larger tools and equipment has since been completed. Additionally, there were a number of smaller tools and equipment that still needed to be placed on the new rig. The engine was then sent to Marazita Graphics, Inc. in Akron for the graphics package to be applied. After the graphics were applied, the rig was brought back to the station to start training. The final step was for the engine to return to Johnson’s for the final touches on equipment mounting. According to Gandee, the department’s current frontline engine has had a number of mechanical issues.  However, once a number of repairs are completed on it, it’ll be a solid reserve engine, he said. “When the new engine has scheduled maintenance or any repairs, we’ll still have a reliable backup,” Gandee said.