A new fire station opened Tuesday in Odessa (TX) on Penbrook Street, NewsWest9.com reported.

Being on Penbrook Street allows Odessa Fire Station 6 to get access to more locations at the same pace it did at its old location, the report said.

Currently, 18 employees and a battalion chief are employed at the fire station. 

A ribbon cutting ceremony is scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday, November 9. 

Ferrara Fire Apparatus, Inc., a subsidiary of REV Group Inc., and a leading manufacturer of custom built, heavy-duty fire apparatus, announces the Baton Rouge Fire Department has selected Ferrara to provide the city with five (5) custom pumpers, three (3) 107’ Rear Mount Ladder trucks, two (2) Heavy Rescues and one (1) 100’ Mid-Mount Platform.

Funding for the fire apparatus was made possible through Baton Rouge Mayor Sharon Weston Broome and her administration through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which offers specific funding for first responders and state and local governments.

The five Custom Top-Mount Pumpers are built on a Cinder^® XMFD chassis with extruded aluminum bodies and feature:

• 1500 GPM Hale Qmax pump
• 750-gallon water tank
• 20-gallon foam cell
• Foam Pro 2001 foam system
• Cummins^® L9 450 HP engine
• Allison EVS 3000 transmission
• Hendrickson Steertek NXT front axle

The three 107 Rear Mount Ladder trucks are built on an Igniter^® XMFD chassis 100’ wide extruded aluminum bodies and feature:

• 4-section heavy duty aerial
• -8° to +72° operational envelope
• 107’ vertical reach at 72° and 101’ horizontal reach at 0°
• 750-pound tip load

• Cummins^® X12 500 HP engine
• Allison EVS 4000 transmission

• Akron Monitor with 1500 GPM nozzle
• Hendrickson Steertek NXT front axle

The 100’ Mid-Mount Platform is built on an Inferno^® MFD chassis with 100” wide extruded aluminum body and features:

• 5-section heavy duty aerial
• -12° to +72° operational envelope
• 100’ vertical reach at 72° and 99’ horizontal reach at 0°
• Cummins^® X12 500 HP engine
• Allison 4000 EVS transmission
• Hendrickson Steertek NXT front axle

The Ferrara™ Heavy Duty Walk-Around Rescue is built on a Cinder^® XMFD chassis with a 102” wide extruded aluminum body and an overall length of 34 feet, 6.5 inches. Features include:

• Cummins L9 450 HP engine
• Allison EVS 3000 transmission
• Customized compartments
• Recessed upper walkway with six 24” deep coffin compartments
• Hendrickson Steertek NXT front axle

The department’s Apparatus Committee, made up of firefighters who will be operating the equipment on an everyday basis, met with engineers from Ferrara to design apparatus that would meet their needs when responding to emergencies.

“The Baton Rouge Fire Department is extremely excited to be receiving this much needed apparatus to our agency,” said Chief Michael Kimble. “We would like to thank Mayor Broome and her administration for helping secure the funds to make this a reality. We would also like to thank the representatives from Ferrara apparatus for working with our committee to ensure our firefighters are equipped with apparatus that meets their response needs. Their commitment to make our request a reality was second to none.”

“We are honored to have the continued trust and confidence of the Baton Rouge Fire Department,” said Chris McClung, Director of Sales, Ferrara. “We look forward to many years of Ferrara apparatus supporting Baton Rouge’s firefighters as they serve the great capital of Louisiana.”

Kasson voters are being asked to cast votes on the city’s new fire hall project, PostBulletin.com reported. The new fire hall — which would be built on the same site as the Kasson Fire Department’s current building at 101 East Main Street — is a needed upgrade for the community, said a city official.

The advisory ballot question reads: “‘Shall the City of Kasson, MN, be authorized to issue bonds in an amount not exceeding the amount of $7,000,000 for the purposes of designing, constructing, equipping and furnishing a new fire station?’ This measure would be funded by an estimated property tax of $0.20 cents per $1,000 dollars of assessed valuation, and would cost the owner of a $250,000 home about $4.17 a month or roughly $50 dollars per year.”

Some of the department’s noncritical equipment has to be stored off site, and the training classroom is too small for the department’s current needs, the report said.

The proposed fire hall would span 17,000 square feet — 4,000 square feet larger than the current building — and include commons and a community use space. The city is pursuing a new building because the cost of upgrading the fire department’s existing facilities would cost almost as much as a total replacement, according to the report.

Here is a look at the new fire hall project (PDF).

The Botetourt County Fire & EMS Department is getting new equipment to replace older trucks and ambulances, WDBJ7.com reported.

The Board of Supervisors approved the purchase of two new fire trucks to replace older ones, the report said. The $4.5 million package also included the purchase of two ambulances, according to the report.

The new vehicles are expected to be in service by late 2025 or early 2026.

Rachel Rodgers

Daily Gazette, Sterling, Ill.

(MCT)

Nov. 2—DIXON — The Dixon Fire Department received a new search-and-rescue drone thanks to a donation from Sewer Equipment.

The thermal drone will be a valuable tool for the department’s rescue team, which won’t have to wait to borrow one from surrounding agencies, Deputy Chief Dave Lohse said.

“Sadly, with the economy, strict budgeting, and other large ticket expenses, the purchase of the thermal drone was not allocated this budget year,” Lohse said. “Dixon’s Fire Department has had two incidences this year where drones were requested and our rescue team had to wait over half an hour or more for assistance from other neighboring agencies when sometimes seconds matter during the rescue.”

The drone features thermal imaging capabilities that can be used to locate missing victims, assist in mitigating hazardous materials incidents and detect hot spots in large fires where firefighters cannot access.

The department has already used the drone during emergency responses including the fire that destroyed the Auction City building at 2505 W. Fourth St. in September.

The search-and-rescue benefit resonates with the sewer equipment family.

Sewer Equipment President John Wichmann spoke of the tragedy where Jim Shirk drowned in the Rock River when kayaking in August. Shirk, of Erie, was the engineering manager at Sewer Equipment in Dixon for more than 21 years.

“Today’s fire service is truly an all-hazards response agency. Over the last decade, our first responders have focused and trained in the areas of hazardous materials, active shooter incidents, and technical rescues such as high-angle rescue, confined-space rescue, swift-water rescue, trench rescue, and building collapse,” Lohse said. “The addition of the drone will enhance our emergency service needs and will serve the community for years to come.”

Department staff did a drone demonstration at Sewer Equipment Tuesday.

Lohse said since the donation, other businesses have also donated funds that will go toward accessories, attachments and training for the drone. Firefighters and police officers plan to attend drone training in December.

“All of us at Sewer Equipment are grateful that our company was able to donate funding for the purchase of this drone by the Dixon Fire Department,” Sewer Equipment owner Dan O’Brien said. “We believe that it will be an important tool for Dixon emergency response personnel to use in the future during search and rescue missions.”

Sewer Equipment is a third-generation, family-owned manufacturing business at 1590 Dutch Road in the industrial park in Dixon.

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