Plum Grove Volunteer Fire Department located a fully-equipped Inflatable Swiftwater Rescue Boat for $8,000, BlueBonnetNews.com reported.

The department did not have the $8,000 to buy the boat, but local assistance was offered by Trey Harris and El Norte Property Owners Association, the report said. A donation was made to the department that allowed them to make the purchase.

The department has since been working through finalizing the project, and assuming all FEMA requirements are met, the department will have successfully gained a new Inflatable Swiftwater Rescue Boat for only $1,234.42, according to the report.

A fire official said the boat gives the department the ability to make rescues during floods. The department had been limited to using a high-water vehicle or aluminum boat, the report said.

By Alan M. Petrillo

CNH Architects had its hands full with the design and construction of two stations for Plymouth (MN) Fire Department, one a completely new build next to an existing station, and the other a new build married to renovated existing apparatus bays.

Dave Dreelan, Plymouth’s deputy chief, says the departmental needs were similar for both Station 2 (the completely new station) and Station 3, where the apparatus bays were retained. “Plymouth Fire Department has three stations, and up until 2017, had only career chief officers and paid on-call firefighters,” Dreelan observed. “At that time we hired our first career firefighters, and the next year expanded that model and staffed 24/7 in buildings designed only for the on-call staffing model. The stations had very small kitchens, no dayrooms, and no dorms, so we had converted meeting rooms, conference rooms and closets into dorms. We truly needed new stations.”

Quinn Hutson, principal at CNH Architects, says the old Station 2 “was an extremely small station that was built in 1976, and it needed to be completely rebuilt with modern amenities.” A station study confirmed that nothing in the station was salvageable, so the department chose to build a completely new station, but needed to keep the crews functioning in the old Station 2 while the new one was being built.

Dreelan notes that 85 percent of the new Station 2 was constructed next to the old building, and when that part was complete, the old station was demolished and the rest of the new station, a workout room on the ground floor and a training room and emergency operations center (EOC) on the second level were constructed.

Hutson says the floor plans for both stations are similar, with the chief difference being that Station 2 has a full second floor to house the fire department’s administrative offices, as well as a large training stairwell. Both stations have three drive-through, double-deep apparatus bays, flanked by a decon room, turnout gear room, work room, and self contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) room, Hutson says, as well as a kitchen, dining area, day room, six individual dorm rooms with individual locker spaces, and bathroom/shower rooms.

Dreelan says that Station 2’s second floor houses the fire administration offices and has a fitness area, conference room, and flexible space for cubicles or additional training areas. The station also has a mezzanine over the apparatus bays for bailout and confined space work, and a fully functional training stairwell with multiple windows and openings that allows for rope, hose line and ladder training. He adds that the department went from 11,000 square feet in the old station to 28,000 square feet in the new Station 2.

Pleasanton will celebrate the completion of the newly-constructed Fire Station No. 3 on Santa Rita Road at noon Friday, Patch.com reported.

Representatives from the city of Pleasanton and the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department will cut a ribbon and offer tours of the newly rebuilt station at 3200 Santa Rita Road, the report said. In January 2021, the nearly 50-year-old station was torn down after a study determined that it would make more financial sense to replace the structure rather than repair it.

Firefighters moved into a temporary station on Stoneridge Drive while construction began on the new firehouse. The new fire station is 8,000 square feet, two stories, and includes living space, an outdoor patio, and perimeter landscaping, according to the report.

It will also feature a historic bell that was used to summon volunteer firefighters from the late 1800s that used to be kept in front of Station 3 until it was moved indoors a few years ago, the report said.

Two people are in the hospital after a fire truck responding to a fire in Accokeek crashed into a vehicle Wednesday afternoon, Fox5DC.com reported. 

The Charles County Fire Department said the driver of one of its trucks overturned while merging onto Route 210 near Hawthorne Road, tumbling into the side of an SUV, the report said. Officials said the collision occurred around 3:15 p.m. 

The driver of the fire department’s water tanker truck was transported to a hospital with injuries that do not appear to be life-threatening, the report said.  

The driver of the SUV was also transported to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to the report. 

The Charles County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the crash. 

Traffic Ops officers are investigating a crash on Route 210 near Hawthorne Road in which a fire truck overturned onto the side of an SUV. There was one person on the truck and one person in the SUV. Both were transported to area hospitals with non life threatening injuries.

— Charles Co Sheriff (@CCSOMD) November 16, 2022

The Burlington Fire Department’s mission is to be the premier emergency response agency in southeast Iowa, a goal that would be helped by a new fire station and training facility, TheHawkEye.com reported.

Addressing the Burlington City Council on Monday, a fire official laid out the department’s plans for a new fire station that will serve the northwest portion of Burlington that lies outside of the four-minute drive time from Central Fire Station and Station 2, the report said.

The fire department and city officials for months have been laying the groundwork for the construction of a new station, complete with a four-story training facility, to replace the makeshift station inside the Black Hawk Food Services building at 3400 West Mount Pleasant Street, where Station 3 has been located since October 2018, the report said.

The next steps in the process for the new station and training facility include expanding the fire station committee to more community members and finalization of the committee’s draft request for qualifications, the report said.