Jacksonville’s 1950s fire hall on C Street has been rebuilt with the addition of a second floor and seismic reinforcement to withstand earthquakes, MailTribune.com reported.

Work is nearly complete, and fire officials expect fire staff to occupy the building in October, according to the report.

City officials wrestled for several decades with how to create a better, larger facility for the department, considering purchase of property for a new fire hall at one point. A state of Oregon seismic reinforcement grant of $1.34 million has covered over half of the cost for the rehabilitation, the report said.

A total of 112 pilings, some as long as 21 feet, tie the building to bedrock below the soil. More than 1,300 helical ties secure the first story’s original brick wall exterior to the new 2-by-6 framing constructed inside the brick shell, according to the report. State historical preservation standards and grant requirements called for retention of three of the existing walls.

Business Oregon awarded a $1.34 million grant for seismic reinforcement of the fire hall in May 2020. Another $1 million for the remodel came from the city’s urban renewal agency. Increases in costs were covered by federal funds from the American Rescue Plan provided during the COVID-19 pandemic. Total cost of the building is estimated at $2.6 million, the report said.

Firefighters helped a mother deliver a baby at a fire station in Tulare County (CA) on Sunday morning, YourCentralValley.com reported.

Around 10:30 a.m. Sunday, officials with the Tulare County Fire Department said a woman in labor walked into the fire station in Terra Bella and asked firefighters for help, the report said.

Fire officials quickly prepared an area at the fire station for the woman to give birth and a healthy baby boy was delivered minutes later, according to the report.

The mother and the baby were taken to a local hospital to be checked out.

Three firefighters were injured early Sunday morning while battling a fire that engulfed a historic church in South Los Angeles, officials said. More than 100 firefighters responded to the major emergency fire at Victory Baptist Church at 4802 S. Mckinley Ave. for one hour and 40 minutes. One firefighter suffered moderate injuries and two others sustained minor injuries; two of them were transported to a hospital while the other was treated at the scene, an LAFD spokesperson said.
- PUB DATE: 9/12/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KABC-TV ABC 7 Los Angeles

PHOTOS: First responders from across Brazos County gathered early Sunday morning outside the Stella Hotel in Bryan. The group of firefighters, police officers, and paramedics paused to pay tribute to their brothers and sisters that made the ultimate sacrifice 21 years ago today. First responders, many in full gear climbed the equivalent of 110 flights of stairs as a tribute to the heroes who died at Ground Zero on 9/11.
- PUB DATE: 9/12/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KBTX-TV CBS 3 Bryan

VIDEO: A pair of fire trucks racing through a New Jersey city en route to put out flames scorching a downtown business collided, critically injuring three firefighters Saturday evening, city officials said. The two fire department trucks were responding to a fire on Main Street when they smashed into one another at Broadway and Straight Street around 5:30 p.
- PUB DATE: 9/12/2022 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WNBC-TV NBC 4 New York