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Posted: Jul 4, 2025

Bay City (MI) Considers $43K Contract With Architecture Firm to Repair Fire Station 5

Joey Oliver
mlive.com
(TNS)

BAY CITY, MI – Bay City commissioners are set to vote this month on an agreement with a southeast Michigan company to determine the scope of work required for the city’s currently defunct Fire Station 5.

An item on the agenda for the Monday, July 7, Bay City Commissioners meeting calls for the commission to decide whether to approve a $43,060 professional services agreement with Redstone Architects, Inc. of Bingham Farms, Michigan.

The agreement calls on the company to determine the scope of work needed on Fire Station 5, make recommendations and develop plans for the work, and provide estimated costs as needed within 120 days.

Commissioners on March 3 passed a resolution to obtain bids for the possible repair of Fire Station 5, located at 1209 E. Smith St.

In April, a request for proposals was issued to determine the scope of work needed.

Four proposals were received by the end of May, including offers from Redstone Architects, Inc., WTA Architects in Saginaw, Veridus Advisors in Byron Center and Hobbs + Black in Lansing.

Interviews with the firms were conducted on June 9 and June 13. The firms were evaluated on their grasps of project requirements, key personnel and roles, pertinent experience and compensation, according to city officials.

Redstone Architects Inc. scored the highest and has been recommended for the project by city staff.

Fire Station 5, built in 1965, closed on July 15, 2024, leaving the city with two fire stations on the east side of the river and one on the West Side.

The closure was due, in part, to the poor conditions the building is in, officials said previously. The closure was also influenced by financial considerations.

Officials previously said it’d cost more than $386,000 in renovation and repairs to reopen Fire Station 5 in Bay City’s Banks District, and the price of adding personnel to staff the station would cost the city more than twice that number.

Bay City Department of Public Safety Director Caleb Rowell previously told city commissioners it would cost the city a projected $386,318 for high- and medium-priority repairs on Fire Station 5, and adding the personnel to reopen the fire station would cost the city approximately $1.6 million the first year. That cost would increase to about $2 million by year three.

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Posted: Jul 4, 2025

Syracuse (NY) Reopens Fire Station at Edge of Downtown

Jon Moss
syracuse.com
(TNS)

Syracuse, N.Y. — Syracuse city leaders celebrated the reopening Wednesday of a fire station that’s been closed for 27 years.

Fire Station 12 at 400 W. Genesee St. is home again to an engine company for the first time since 1998. It had closed during a reorganization of the fire department after opening in the 1920s.

The department was able to reopen the station on the edge of downtown thanks to a roughly $7.6 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. It competed nationally for the money.

The grant is helping the department expand its capacity in two other ways.

A firefighter was added to Rescue Company at Fire Station 6 at 601 S. West St. That person will drive an additional fire truck, Rescue 2, to calls.

Four firefighters now staff a new unit, Ladder 1, at Fire Station 1 at 900 S. State St.

Fire Chief Michael Monds said at a news conference that the changes will help the department manage a growing number of emergency calls.

“You know that sometimes we struggle to keep up with this call volume‚” he said. “But this redeployment plan helps us ensure that we’re prepared for the complexity and density of today’s emergencies.”

Monds said the department is shifting around some existing personnel and adding three new firefighters. That brings the department up to 75 people on duty for each shift.

Monds broadcasted the staffing changes on the radio at the beginning of the day.

“Rescue Co. 2, Engine Co. 12 and Ladder 1 are on the air at 8:01 a.m.,” a dispatcher replied.

The new engine and ladder have already fielded their first call.

They were sent at 9:05 a.m. to 516 E. Willow St. for a fire alarm, according to dispatches from the Onondaga County 911 Center. They were cleared from the scene about 10 minutes later.

Mayor Ben Walsh said he was excited about the station reopening and the booming local economy that helped to fuel it. A record level of construction activity was permitted by last year.

Walsh said he doesn’t think the federal grant for the fire department is in danger. President Donald Trump has imposed a series of unprecedented funding freezes across the federal government, some of which judges have ruled unlawful.

“Obviously, the uncertainty in the overall budget is very concerning to the city as a whole,” he said. “I’ve been given no indications that funding specifically through the SAFER grant for the fire department is at risk.”

Staff writer Jon Moss covers breaking news, crime and public safety. He can be reached at jmoss@syracuse.com or @mossjon7.

©2025 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit Read more

Posted: Jul 4, 2025

Fire Apparatus of the Day: July 4, 2025

SPARTAN EMERGENCY RESPONSE—West Tuckerton Volunteer Fire Company, Little Egg Harbor Township, Ocean County, NJ, pumper-tanker. Kenworth T880 cab and chassis; Paccar MX15 500-hp engine; Waterous CSU 2,000-gpm pump; UPF Poly 3,500-gallon water tank; three Newton 10-inch stainless steel dump valves; TFT Crossfire deck gun. Dealer: Bill Parker, Campbell Supply Company, South Brunswick, NJ. (Photo by Dennis Sharpe.)

More on this Rig in the May 2025 Special Delivery

PREVIOUS PHOTO OF THE DAY >>

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The post Fire Apparatus of the Day: July 4, 2025 appeared first on Fire Apparatus: Fire trucks, fire engines, emergency vehicles, and firefighting equipment.

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Posted: Jul 3, 2025

Flint (MI) Fire Department Adds Chest Compression, Defibrillator Equipment to Arsenal

Ron Fonger
mlive.com
(TNS)

FLINT, MI — The city is upgrading emergency response tools for firefighters on Flint ambulances that went into service just nine months ago.

Mayor Sheldon Neeley and Fire Chief Theron Wiggins unveiled two pieces of new equipment — a chest compression system and cardiac monitors/defibrillators during a news conference on Wednesday, July 2.

“When a person is fallen with a stroke or heart attack, seconds matter,” Neeley said. “Seconds matter in sustaining lives.”

Since the city launched its transport ambulances on Oct. 1, firefighters have answered roughly 4,000 calls, Wiggins said, showing the need for the service.

The chief said Wednesday that the new equipment will help first responders deliver faster, more effective care during cardiac emergencies.

“When you give chest compressions for half an hour, 45 minutes, that takes a lot out of person …,” he said. “This machine is going to do it” for them.

The chest compression system is a hands-free device used to deliver compressions to cardiac arrest patients. The cardiac monitors and defibrillators deliver automated shocks to restart a normal heart rhythm.

Wiggins said the chest compression system will be available in the city’s three ambulances starting this week and the cardiac monitors and defibrillators are expected to be put into service by the end of July.

City officials have said they had no choice but to bring back an ambulance service because the existing private ambulance system in Genesee County is often operating with too few rigs on the road.

Before restarting its ambulance program, Flint had last provided hospital transports in 2002. The program ended because of funding and staffing issues, according to Flint Journal files.

Neeley has said the ambulances and equipment have been funded with the city’s portion of a national opioid settlement and ARPA funds.

Ambulances are being staffed by firefighters who are certified emergency medical technicians.

The mayor has said Flint-owned ambulances will operate only inside the city, and private ambulances will still make runs in Flint if they are the nearest available unit dispatched by Genesee County 9-1-1.

©2025 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit mlive.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

The post Flint (MI) Fire Department Adds Chest Compression, Defibrillator Equipment to Arsenal appeared first on

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Posted: Jul 3, 2025

Rockport (MA) Fire Apparatus Showcase Town’s Artistic Legacy

Gail McCarthy
Gloucester Daily Times, Mass.
(TNS)

ROCKPORT — The artistic legacy in Rockport runs deep, surfacing in many facets of town life, including the Rockport Fire Department.

Ken Knowles, an award-winning artist and gallery owner, hand-paints the town seal — a picturesque ocean view of Thacher Island’s twin lighthouses — on the town’s fire trucks.

He does it in memory of his father, Sheldon O. Knowles Jr., a Rockport firefighter who died in 1993 at the age of 53.

“The reason why I do this is simple,” Ken Knowles said. “My father was a major part of the Fire Department for more than 25 years. He was one of the first EMTs back in the early 1970s. He was very proud of that and I was very proud of him. Growing up with a scanner in the house was interesting, always hearing all the fire calls and police calls, and he’d get up in the middle of the night when a box alarm came in.”

In the wake of his death, Knowles was asked if he would paint the town seal on a new truck, and ever since then, he has continued to volunteer his talents. If one looks closely, the brush strokes can been seen as well as his signature near the bottom edge.

This week, Knowles painted the town’s emblem on a new Combination A fire truck for the Pigeon Cove station.

The unusual twin lighthouses are a favorite subject of the Rockport artist and often appear in his paintings.

Fire Chief Mark Wonson said it is special to have these town seals hand-painted on the trucks and it is appreciated.

For those who worked with the late firefighter, he was remembered for his love of the Rockport Fire Department.

“Sheldon loved Rockport and he was dedicated to the Fire Department,” former Fire Chief James Doyle said. “He loved his kids and his friends. He went way too soon.”

Ken Knowles, who has been painting since he was 15, has been an artist for 43 years, and continues to donate his artworks for a fundraising raffle or auction to help nonprofits make money. These organizations include Care Dimensions, Lights of Love to benefit cancer care services, and Rockport Illuminations, when he donates a painting to raise money for the annual town fireworks display.

Locals and visitors can take in the hand-painted town seals during the annual Rockport Firemen’s Parade on the Fourth of July. The parade kicks off at 6 p.m. from the Rockport public school complex on Jerden’s Lane, continuing down South Street to Dock Square, to Main Street to Beach Street, concluding at the American Legion bandstand near Back Beach.

An 8 p.m. concert at the bandstand will be followed at 9 p.m. by the annual bonfire at Back Beach under the watchful eyes of firefighters.

Gail McCarthy may be contacted at 978-675-2706, or gmccarthy@northofboston.com.

© 2025 the Gloucester Daily Times (Gloucester, Mass.). Visit www.gloucestertimes.com. Distributed by Read more

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