SIDNEY — On Thursday, Oct. 29, at 10 a.m., the Sidney Department of Fire & Emergency Services will be dedicating the new apparatus, Quint 1. The event will take place at Station 1, 222 W. Poplar St.

The Quint is a fire service apparatus that serves the dual purpose of an engine and a ladder truck, and provides five functions: pump, water tank, fire hose, aerial device, and ground ladders. Until the Quint was received, Ladder 5 was the only ladder that the Sidney Fire Department had, at 102 feet. The ladder on the new Quint has a 77-foot ladder.

Part of the fire department history includes having ceremonies when placing new rigs in to service, Chief Brad Jones said. This process includes the Quint getting “wet down” (giving it its first bath) and then the dispatch office activating the station’s paging tones and announcing the retirement of the old rig and welcoming the Quint aboard. Then, just like in “the olden days,” the Quint will be pushed into quarters.