The Portage (WI) Fire Department celebrated the arrival of a new Pierce Enforcer engine with a short presentation and a push-in ceremony, according to a report published by the Daily Dodge.

At the event, firefighters explained the tradition of a push-in ceremony pays tribute to yesteryear when fire equipment was pulled by horses which couldn’t back the apparatus into the station easily, according to the report, which added that the fire department will mark all new deliveries with this type of service.

The new apparatus is a big step for the fire department as it will be replacing a 1986 engine and will be compliant with National Fire Protection Association standard, according to the fire department’s Facebook page.

A total of five people were injured when a man crashed into the back of a fire apparatus working at the scene of a previous crash on Interstate 95 in Stafford County, VA, according to a report published by WTOP News.

According to the report, four people in the car, and a firefighter at the scene were hurt when Ricardo Rodriguez-Montoya, 41, of Maryland crashed into the back of the fire truck. The four people in the car were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries and the firefighter was treated for injuries and later released.

Rodriguez-Montoya was arrested on a variety of charges and held without bond as a result of the Thursday crash, according to the report.

According to Stafford County Fire and Rescue’s Facebook page, Rescue 1 was working at the scene of a wreck on I-95 at mile marker 134.5 when the vehicle hit the back of the truck and became lodged under it. The Facebook post said the firefighter suffered minor injuries.

Frankfort (NY) Fire Department’s 27-year-old aerial is now out of service after it caught fire in the station last week, according to a report published by the Daily Sentinel.

Fortunately, the fire was small and the damage was confined to just the apparatus itself as it was caught by firefighters from neighboring Schuyler Fire Department who were at the station on standby, according to the report.

Nevertheless, the truck was rendered in operable and was towed from the fire station after the fire burned itself out and firefighters put out the remaining embers, the report said, adding that the fire appeared to be in the engine compartment.

Whether the truck will be repaired or not will be up to the insurance company, according to the report, that also said the department has been planning to replace the apparatus for the past seven years.

A new replacement aerial like the one damaged by fire will cost in the range of $1.3 million according to the report, which also said the department will rely on mutual until an aerial is back in service in the community.

Voters in College Station (TX) will have a chance to decide whether they want spend $18 million for a new fire station and equipment when they vote in November, according to a report published by KAGSTV.

The money for the fire station and equipment is part of a larger $90.4 million general obligation bond proposition that was approved by the College Station city council on Wednesday, according to the report.

The five propositions were developed by a 23-member Citizen Bond Advisory Committee that studied the propositions and recommend them for voter consideration, according to the report, that indicated the projects could be paid for with no tax increases.

The committee found that the last station opened in 2012 and the population has grown by 34 percent with calls for fire and EMS responses has increased by 83 percent, the report said, noting the new station would be located to improve response times to the city’s southern areas.

Other expenditures include money for ballparks and ball fields, road improvements and recreation expenditures.

According to a report from MinotDailyNews, Minot (ND) Fire Department’s (MFD’s) new Fire Station 5, currently under construction at Fourth Avenue and 27th Street Northwest, is expected to officially open in June 2023.

At a budget forum last week, MFD Chief Kelli Kronschnabel said the apparatus ordered for the upcoming station should be available in April or May 2023.

Kronschnabel also said that the department is looking to add personnel through their eight- to 12-week academy, depending on candidates’ backgrounds.

The MFD has been writing grants as well, with many outside groups providing grant dollars that will go toward equipment. The department also has been taking advantage of sales on needed items to help take pressure off tax dollars.

Station 5’s operational costs in the MFD’s preliminary 2023 budget include three new firefighters that will complete staffing at the station.