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Posted: Oct 26, 2025

Vote Set on Building New Ticonderoga (NY) Fire Station for $17.8M

LOHR MCKINSTRY
The Press-Republican, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
(TNS)

TICONDEROGA — Residents of Ticonderoga Fire District will have a chance to decide on Tuesday, Oct. 28 on whether they want to spend $17.8 million on a new fire station.

The vote at the Ticonderoga firehouse at 60 Montcalm St. is from 6 to 9 p.m.

A public information session on the plan will be held at the firehouse at 6 p.m. today and is open to all.

Fire officials said the financial impact of building a new station will increase the current Fire District property tax rate from $1.03 per $1,000 of assessment to $1.79 per $1,000.

That means someone will a home assessed at $200,000 would pay an additional $357 in property taxes annually.

The new, 19,000 square foot station would be two floors and construction would start in 2027 and finish in 2028. The cost would be bonded with a 25 year loan.

Fire Chief Jason Parents said the fire department gets about 300 calls a year.

“We’re having some major problems,” he said. “The station has definitely outlived its lifespan.”

He said the current building is deteriorating and was a former grocery store with cracking floors never intended to support heavy fire trucks. It had white mold in 2023, which was removed, but could return, he said.

The fire company looked at other locations, such as the vacant former Lowe’s Home Center building on Wicker Street, but none were suitable, the chief said.

He said the plan for the new fire station is bare bones and was designed by CSArch, an Albany-based architectural and engineering firm.

The fire department issued a statement before the vote.

“Our fire station has served Ticonderoga since 1976, but it was never meant to be permanent,” it said. “Originally built as a grocery store, it now suffers from serious issues: ongoing mold remediation, roof and structural concerns, deteriorating floors, exposed gear lockers, and bays that are too small for today’s equipment.”

Informational videos on the current building are at: vimeo.com/1084942313/70dc174fd5 and vimeo.com/1110275525/925caa99c1.

© 2025 the Press-Republican (Plattsburgh, N.Y.). Visit pressrepublican.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

The post Vote Set on Building New Ticonderoga (NY) Fire Station for $17.8M appeared first on Read more

Posted: Oct 25, 2025

11-Year-Old Girl Struck by Miami (FL) Fire Rescue Ambulance Near School, Officials Say

Milena Malaver
Miami Herald
(TNS)

An 11-year-old girl was struck by a City of Miami Fire Rescue truck Friday morning as a paramedic crew was taking a patient to Jackson Memorial Hospital, officials say.

Around 8 a.m., the vehicle, which had emergency lights and sirens on, was near 542 NW 12th Ave., close to SLAM! Miami Charter School in Little Havana, when the girl “unexpectedly stepped out between standstill traffic,” Miami Fire Rescue Lt. Pete Sanchez said.

Miami Rescue 24 tried to swerve to avoid her, but ended up striking her. The crew on board stopped to give medical aid while another fire-rescue vehicle arrived and took her to Ryder Trauma Center.

The girl appeared to be in stable condition and was alert while being taken to the hospital, Sanchez added.

The original patient being taken to the hospital was taken to another rescue unit and brought to the hospital.

This story may be updated as more information becomes available.

©2025 Miami Herald. Visit miamiherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

The post 11-Year-Old Girl Struck by Miami (FL) Fire Rescue Ambulance Near School, Officials Say appeared first on Fire Apparatus: Fire trucks, fire engines, emergency vehicles, and firefighting equipment.

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Posted: Oct 25, 2025

MN Fire Department to Acquire New Engine Apparatus

James Allen
Fergus Falls Daily Journal, Minn.
(TNS)

The Fergus Falls City Council approved the acquisition of a new fire engine truck from Fire Safety USA, Inc. for an E-One 100’ Aerial Truck at its Oct. 20 regular meeting.

The full cost of the truck is for $2,033,000. Originally, the department had applied for a national grant from the Assistance to Firefighters Grant to help cover the cost of a new aerial truck, according to Fire Chief Ryan Muchow. However, on Sept. 29, the department learned that the grant request was not part of the FEMA award.

It was learned from Muchow that the department has approximately $430,000 on hand in the truck/building capital fund, and currently has a budget request of $205,000 in the 2026 budget. Muchow said it was anticipated that the city would be financing roughly half of the purchase price, with the amount being levied for the payments to begin in 2030. He shared that there was also a potential for a prepayment discount if a partial payment was made the when the truck was ordered; however, City Finance Director Bill Sonmor will help determine if that option is financially beneficial compared to the return on investment with the city’s current truck/building capital funds.

With all that said, the fire department won’t be getting the fire truck right away, as the truck build time is estimated to be three years, 10 months. Once the engine is completed in 2029, full payment would be due.

Muchow said they had looked at three different companies and found this to be the best and most affordable, but viable option. There was also a $15,000 change order included in the current price that would be a cushion in case anything is missed during the build.

The goal in the interim would be to keep the current truck running and in the fleet for another five years, at which point it would be 35 years old, as it was placed into service in 1995.

In other council items, an ongoing discussion of how Visit Fergus Falls should function going forward was had, resulting in changes requiring the termination of an old agreement, and a proposal for a new agreement.

With unanimous council approval of a consent agenda resolution providing written termination of the 2021 agreement with Visit Fergus Falls effective Dec.31, the city’s agreement with Visit Fergus Falls will expire at the end of the year with a 60 day notice required by statute for cancellation.

The proposed new agreement would increase the administrative cost from 3% to 5% as allowed by state statute, which will result in an additional $3,400. In addition, Visit Fergus F

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Posted: Oct 25, 2025

Here’s Why WY County Advanced $500K to Fire District

Hannah Ward
Casper Star Tribune, Wyo.
(TNS)

Natrona County commissioners recently approved a $500,000 advance to the Natrona County Fire Protection District to help with operational costs and equipment, including the early arrival of three new fire trucks.

Overtime from wildfire season and the unanticipated early delivery of new fire trucks had the Fire District facing a budget deficit and forced it to spend $1.1 million from its savings, said District Fire Inspector Brian Oliver in a September meeting.

The fire district ordered the new trucks in 2020, when a backlog of materials pushed the estimated readiness to be three to four years out and with the assumption it would have the revenue by the delivery date, Oliver said in the meeting. Many fire departments canceled their orders between then and now, and Natrona County’s order was pushed to an earlier date, he added.

“This is not necessarily something that has taken us by surprise,” Oliver said.

The county will prepay the district’s allotted $250,000 from the 1-cent sales tax, and Anticline mineral royalty funds will provide the other half.

The state of Wyoming levies a 4% sales tax, and counties can opt in to issuing an additional percent to help pay for improving and maintaining equipment, infrastructure, and vehicles—such as fire trucks.

The down payment for two of the fire trucks and the first payment, due in January, will be covered by $320,000 of the advancement. The remainder will go to repairing a septic drain system.

The county is set to receive around $43,000 from the Industrial Siting Council through next spring, and this money will be used to reimburse the general fund, said Dave North, chairman of the Natrona County Board of County Commissioners, in an interview.

The Industrial Siting Council looks into environmental and socio-economic impacts of major industrial projects and helps companies determine what permits they may need.

Oliver said the large sums due for retirement payments, overtime and insurance before and after the turn of the fiscal year each summer makes it difficult to avoid pulling from savings because of tax revenue checks from the county coming each month, rather than a lump sum like many other fire departments.

To ease the financial pressures, the district has temporarily reduced staffing to eliminate overtime costs and closed its fire station to the east of Casper for a 48-hour period, officials said in a statement Monday.

“These steps ensured we could maintain service while addressing budget issues and are still in place as of this release,” officials said.

Officials noted the fire protection district and Natrona County Commissioners are discussing options on how to prevent a similar issue in the future.

© 2025 Casper Star Tribune, Wyo.. Visit www.trib.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

The post Here’s Why WY County Advanced $500K

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Posted: Oct 24, 2025

Ladder Trucks Used to Extricate Tow Truck Driver Dangling Off Bridge

McKinney firefighters rescued the driver of a tow truck Thursday after his vehicle crashed and ended up dangling off the Highway 121 overpass, CBS Texas reports.

Crews used two ladder trucks to reach the trapped driver and bring him to safety in about 15 minutes.

The driver swerved to avoid another potential crash, struck the bridge, and nearly went over the edge, the station reports. He escaped with only a minor scratch.

Visit CBS Texas for more.

The post Ladder Trucks Used to Extricate Tow Truck Driver Dangling Off Bridge appeared first on Fire Apparatus: Fire trucks, fire engines, emergency vehicles, and firefighting equipment.

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