New Paltz Fire Department opened its brand-new headquarters during a grand opening for the community September 17, HudsonValleyOne.com reported. The 14,000-square-foot building was many years in the making.

The department received money after Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee devastated portions of the New Paltz Township in 2011.

A fire official said that emergency responses to the 2011 weather disasters were hindered by the fact that the old NPFD headquarters was located in the Wallkill River floodplain, the report said. It was also too small for the department’s needs, with firetrucks and other vehicles crammed into three tight bays. The fire department currently operates a 100-foot platform ladder truck, two engines, one rescue pumper, one supply pumper, one tanker, one brushfire police truck, one rescue boat and one utility off-road vehicle, the report said.

The new Apparatus Bay will ease the space crunch significantly, according to the report. It has five doors on each end, one set opening onto North Putt Corners Road and the other onto the building’s rear parking lot, accessible from Henry W. DuBois Drive. Topped by southward- and westward-oriented shed roofs that will eventually hold solar collectors, this part of the new building also houses a radio dispatcher’s office, equipment storage and cleaning stations.

The other half of the building has two entrances, the one on the south side leading to a full kitchen and a Community Room that could easily accommodate an augmented crew of volunteers in the event of an emergency such as a major ice storm. It’s also big enough to host training exercises when the folding tables and chairs are put away.

The Danbury Township Fire Department has opened its state-of-the-art new fire station this month, and it is the envy of hook-and-ladder crews from around Ottawa County, thebeacon.net reported.

The new complex will hold an open house Saturday, October 15.

The .75-cent mill levy for the firehouse received strong approval in November 2020, and in rapid fashion a new site was chosen that would be centrally located in the township and replace two other smaller fire stations, which will be repurposed, the report said.

The new 26,000-square-foot facility on a 7-acre field at 7870 East Harbor Road cost an estimated $6.2 million, according to the report.

The new station has training facilities for the first time and a large meeting room and break room with a full kitchen, the report said. There is a large exercise room, individual sleeping rooms and offices for the chief and other officers.

Red lights would automatically turn green in the path of St. Louis city fire trucks, police cars and ambulances, under a plan being considered by the Board of Aldermen, Audacy.com reported.

A fire official said there are two or three intersection crashes a month, according to the report.

A green light won’t mean it’s necessarily safe to go, the fire official said. Fire, emergency and police still have to cover the brake because you don’t know who’s going to roll through a stop sign, who’s going to roll through a red light, who’s going to run through a red light, the report said.

Backers hope the estimated $12 million project could be paid for out of the city’s federal COVID relief money, according to the report.

North Tooele Fire District recently spent over $800,000 to buy three new trucks, TooeleOnline.com reported. A ceremony was held at the Stansbury Park Station September 13 to dedicate the new trucks.

The trucks arrived at the station earlier this year, with two of them arriving in July and one arriving in January, the report said.

The station also received a brush truck and a used water tender truck, which will hold over 2,000 gallons of water, according to the report.

All together the trucks cost over $800,000, paid for by impact fees.

By Alan M. Petrillo

Hopelawn (NJ) Engine Company No. 1 had a 2007 rescue truck built by Rescue 1 that needed to be replaced because the department outgrew the configuration of the older unit.

So Hopelawn again turned to Rescue 1 for a new heavy rescue truck that could be configured to the department’s changed needs.

Brian Turcotte, Hopelawn past chief and chair of the truck committee, says Engine Company No. 1, established in 1914, is an all-volunteer department with 27 firefighters staffing two engines, 2014 and 2009 Pierce pumpers with 2,000-gallon per minute (gpm) pumps and 750-gallon water tanks, a 2015 Chevy Tahoe chief’s vehicle, a utility pickup truck, and the rescue truck. “The largest portion of our response with the rescue truck is for motor vehicle accidents because we have the Garden State Parkway and three state highways (State Routes 9, 440, and 616) running through our district carrying approximately 300,000 vehicles a day through our town,” Turcotte observes.

The other reason for a new rescue, he adds, is the fact that Hopelawn has a rapid intervention team (RIT) based out of its rescue that provides RIT response not only in its own district but also to several of the eight other fire districts in Woodbridge Township. “The new rescue is the same body size of 18 feet 9 inches like our previous rescue,” Turcotte says, “but we changed the chassis and redesigned compartments and storage areas to maximize where we could locate the equipment we need to carry.”

Jamey Pallitto, sales manager for New Jersey Emergency Vehicles, who sold the walk-around heavy rescue truck to Hopelawn, says the truck is built on a Spartan Gladiator chassis and cab with seating for six firefighters in H.O. Bostrom seats, powered by a 450-horsepower (hp) Cummins L9 diesel engine and an Allison 3000 EVS automatic transmission. Wheelbase on the rescue is 195 inches, overall length is 33 feet 4 inches, and overall height is 10 feet 7 inches.

Brad Turk, regional sales manager for Rescue 1, says his company and New Jersey Emergency Vehicles worked closely with