The Dalton, GA, Fire Department held a ceremony to dedicate the city’s newest fire truck at Station #4 on Friday afternoon. The new Engine #4 was put into service after a brief ceremony attended by Mayor Pennington, Councilmember Dennis Mock, and Public Safety Commission member Truman Whitfield and other city officials. The new truck is the second of three new Dalton fire trucks to be purchased with funds from the 2020 SPLOST. The third truck will be purchased in 2023. 

“We appreciate the support of our citizens of the City of Dalton. Obviously this was a SPLOST purchase and we have been blessed over the years to get a ladder truck last year, and to get this one this year,” Chief Todd Pangle said during his brief remarks before the truck was put into service. “We appreciate the support of our Mayor and Council and the Public Safety Commission for all of the hard work put into this.” 

The new fire engine was built by the Sutphen company and city taxpayers ended up getting quite a deal on the purchase. The new engine cost approximately $635,000. That price tag is at least $140,000 lower than it would have been if the truck was ordered today, however. In 2021, when the City of Dalton agreed to purchase the three SPLOST fire trucks, fire officials signed a contract with Sutphen that guaranteed the purchase price and stated the company could not raise the price more than three percent due to inflation or cost increases in the cost of parts. 

“We were told today that if we bought this same truck, it would have cost us $140,000 more,” said Chief Pangle. “So as of now, we’re at a savings of $280,000 thanks to signing that contract [with the cost of next year’s purchase included].”

Fridays ceremony included several traditional touches. First, firefighters sprayed down the new Engine #4 with water from the previous Engine #4. Then all of the fire personnel present teamed up to push the engine back into its bay in Station #4. Before motorized fire trucks when the fire service used wagons pulled by horses, firefighters wetted down the horses after calls to cool them off and pushed the wagon back into the fire station by hand. 

Leland Township (MI) Fire Rescue covers territory without municipal water supplies, but loads of lakes, rivers, and streams.

So at almost every fire call in the county, the department uses its hydrant truck. Keeps their other apparatus freed up.

Heroes Next Door and Brandon, Zorran, and James from Leland Township give a demo of how it works.

Visit Heroes Next Door for more videos.

A Syracuse (NY) Fire Department pickup truck filled with medical equipment and supplies, was stolen at a call and totaled in a wreck by the man who stole it, according to a report published by Syracuse.com.

According to the report, fire crews were at a medical call, treating a patient when the crew from the AMR ambulance noticed the pickup truck being driven off. The vehicle’s GPS system located the vehicle heading on to the New York State Thruway after it was stolen at about 1 am Friday, according to the report.

A dispatcher tracked the vehicle as police pursued it and a helicopter followed it shining a light on it as it traveled. Police used spike strips to try to stop the vehicle, but the driver continued on the Thruway east until he eventually hit a median and rolled the truck several times, according to the report.

The driver, Nathan Kane, 23, of Syracuse, suffered minor injuries but the truck and all the equipment inside, including medical and trauma equipment, radios, SCBAs, computers and tools were consider total losses.

Kane was charged with a number of crimes, including grand larceny and motor vehicle violations, according the report.

Houston (TX) Fire Department medics were hurt in a two-vehicle crash on the Gulf Freeway Friday, according to a report published by KPRC2.

According to the news report, the crash happened in the early morning hours and the medics were taken to the hospital.

There was no word on their conditions.  

According to a report from NBC5, a private citizen who was volunteering his help in fighting the Chalk Mountain Fire in Somervell County, Texas, with his “military-style fire truck” escaped serious injury after being overtaken by flames on Monday. The vehicle, however, was a total loss after the sustained fire damage.

The Somervell County Sheriff’s Office said Deputy Greg Sharp was going door-to-door to give evacuation notices, when he came across the man as he was fighting the flames with his own

Eventually, man was forced to abandon the vehicle as it was overcome by fire. He joined Sharp in his vehicle as they narrowly escaped the oncoming flames. Both escaped with just minor injuries. Sharp’s department vehicle was also damaged.

The Somervell County Sheriff’s Office said the two vehicles were the only ones to be known to have been damaged by the Chalk Mountain Fire.

As of Thursday, the Texas A&M Forest Service said the Chalk Mountain Fire has scorched 6,339 acres and is just 10% contained.