Firefighters at the Douglas A. Melton Fire Station on Midtown’s Lafayette Street in Mobile recently sounded their own alarm when they noticed ceiling tiles were falling and they were covered in what appeared to be mold and mildew, MyNBC15.com reported.

Turns out it was worse than that.

Asbestos, used to prevent fire but later deemed to be cancer causing, was a construction staple when the station was built. Working with the city of Mobile’s Architectural Engineering team, crews are now in the process of clearing all of that out, the report said.

According to a fire official, they have replaced the fiberglass insulation, cleaned out the duct work, they’ve done deep cleans and anti-microbial treatments of the ducts and vents, the walls and everything, according to the report.

And if everything continues on schedule, the inside work should be done by the end of this month, followed by a few cosmetic touches, the report said.

Cheyenne marked the official beginning of a construction project Wednesday that will bring three fire stations to new locations, WyomingNews.com reported.

The ceremonial groundbreaking at the site of the new Station No. 5, 4200 Converse Avenue, was the culmination of a multi-year mission to expand Cheyenne Fire Rescue’s footprint, reduce response times and make residents safer, the report said.

The construction of all three stations is made possible by voters’ approval of a sixth-penny sales tax extension in November 2021. The total cost of building the three stations is expected to be about $21 million, a city official said Wednesday, according to the report.

Station No. 5 – which was built in 1963, according to Cheyenne Fire and Rescue’s website – will be relocated from 2014 Dell Range Boulevard. Station No. 3, located at 1720 Cleveland Avenue, was built in 1981. These two are the oldest operating fire stations in the city, the report said.

The relocated Station No. 3 will be located off Nationway, near the Ashley HomeStore. The completely new station, No. 7, will be on the west side of Whitney Road at Countryside Avenue, near the Sinclair gas station and U-Haul Moving and Storage of east Cheyenne, the report said.

Once construction begins, it will take about 11 months to complete each new station, according to the report.

Oglethorpe Power donated land to Monroe County so they could build a new fire station in place of the one that burned down last year, 41NBC.com reported.

Monroe County Commissioners approved by a 3-0 vote October 4 to accept the donation of four acres of land on Ray Hartley Road from Oglethorpe Power for the location of a new Smarr fire station, according to a Monroe County Board of Commissioners Facebook post.

The new station, which is slated to open in 2023, will replace the former one on Evans Road that burned down in November 2021, according to the Facebook post.

A fire official said the land the old fire station sits on in Smarr isn’t big enough for what they want to build, according to the report.

The fire official said the donated lot is level with quick access to the freeway. They want a station big enough for the fire truck, rescue truck and ambulances, the report said.

A city official said the new fire station will be state-of-the-art with an engine, ladder, sleeping quarters and more, according to the report.

The county is starting the bidding process and hopes to break ground within the next month, the report said. It will take about a year to build the new fire station.

Sutphen—DeKalb County (GA) Fire Rescue 105-foot tractor-drawn aerial. Monarch heavy-duty tractor cab and chassis; Cummins X12 500-hp engine; huck bolted #304 stainless-steel body; Onan 7.5-kW generator; Duo Safety ground ladder complement; TFT Typhoon electric monitor with M-ERP-2000 nozzle and stacked tips. Dealer: Jerry Harley, Williams Fire Apparatus, Ashland, AL.

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Roanoke Rapids City Council Tuesday approved a capital project ordinance which allows for the purchase of a new fire truck through a FEMA Assistance to Firefighters grant, RRSpin.com reported.

The grant award is $476,190 and the city’s match is $158,947, the report said.

A fire official told the council that paying for the truck up front will save the city money because a price increase is expected within the next two to three weeks, according to the report.

Delivery of the truck through the Federal Emergency Agency grant is expected to take 16 months, the fire official said – the same amount of time it will take the fire department to receive one it is getting through American Rescue Plan Act funding.

The truck coming through the FEMA grant will be one to replace engine 142, a 1991 model which is rife with problems, the report said. 

The truck is in need of an engine rebuild, has a rusted pump, electrical issues, no air conditioning and is not up to current National Fire Protection Association safety standards, city fire officials have said.