The Plumsteadville (PA) Volunteer Fire Company will rebuild a sub-station it recently demolished and make renovations to its main fire station thanks to a $1.7 million state grant announced last week, TAPinto.net reported.

The grant is part of the state’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP). RACP is a Pennsylvania program that focuses on the acquisition and construction of regional economic, cultural, civic, recreational and historical improvement projects. RACP projects typically have a regional focus and help boost the economies of the surrounding communities.

The grant funds will be used for re-construction of the recently demolished Plumsteadville Volunteer Fire Company’s Sub-Station No. 20 and for renovations to its main station No. 24. These renovations and rebuilding projects will replace the existing, outdated structure, bringing it
up to code and ensuring safe operation for years to come, a press release said.

Members of the local community came together Sunday morning to help Spencer Fire and Rescue celebrate and bring its newest apparatus into service with a ceremonial push-in, KICDam.com reported.

The new “Engine 992” replaces a 31-year-old unit, the report said. The new engine has a 25-year lifespan.

The Foresthill Fire Protection District received a $50,000 grant to buy new extrication equipment, GoldCountryMedia.com reported.

First responders use these specialized tools to rescue crash victims trapped inside a vehicle, the report said.

Funding for the program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, according to the report.

Webster Groves (MO) held a grand opening October 22 to show off its new Firehouse No. 2 at South Elm and East Rose avenues, TimesNewspapers.com reported.

In April of 2019, voters in Webster Groves backed a $5 million bond issue to replace the city’s 65-year-old firehouse with a much larger, 11,300-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility. Originally estimated to be completed in the spring of this year, shipment delays and building supply shortages stalled the project by six months, the report said.

By Alan M. Petrillo

Drones are becoming more consistent in their ability to hover, are better able to carry heavier payloads, and are using greatly improved camera and infrared (IR) technologies. These and other recent developments in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have increased their use in fire service applications.

Chris Carnahan, South Metro (CO) Fire Rescue emergency communications manager, says South Metro has used its UAVs for a number of types of emergency situations, from structure fires and motor vehicle accident scenes to wildland fires, hazardous materials responses, and search and rescue operations both on land and over the water. Carnahan says South Metro’s primary drones are the DJI Mavic Enterprise Pro outfitted with a state-of-the-art FLIR (forward looking infrared) camera, four DJI Mavic Enterprise Dual drones carrying both visible light and infrared (IR) cameras, and a DJI Matrice 300 UAV.

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“The Mavics are the drones that are the quickest to get up in the air,” Carnahan observes. “We are getting them up in three to four minutes after parking the truck.” South Metro carries its drones on three Chevy SUVs and one Dodge Ram 5500 truck with a rescue box.

“We are using the drones for initial attack reconnaissance,” he points out. “We had a recent attic fire during a storm that was still active but were able to get our drone up to survey the scene and detect hot spots instead of putting firefighters on the roof. They also are useful in helping scene commanders make smart decisions based on what they see with the drone, like maybe cutting an inspection hole instead of a full roof vent hole in order to keep firefighters safe.”

Carnahan notes South Metro has used its drones on a lot of water rescues and dive calls as well as for wildland fire surveillance. “We like to have eyes in the air,” he says. “We flew our drones over a third-alarm wildland fire the 4th of July weekend where we put up a cou