There’s good news and bad news for fans of local Danville sports teams that are on the cusp of a championship. The good: Your team is about to win the title, hooray! The bad: The ensuing championship parade will be without the customary fire trucks until the price of diesel fuel drops.

According to a report in dailyitem.com, borough fire officials said that it’s become too expensive to include the apparatus in parades with fuel prices climbing upward of $6 per gallon. The trucks only get about five miles per gallon.

The trucks had been leading the parade for every championship team in every sport Danville has, if requested. It’s especially bad news for the local girls lacrosse team, which just won the District 4/6 Class 2A title, the report says.

Officials say each of the four fire companies in the borough fire department receives an allocation of $4,500 a year from the borough, which isn’t strictly for fuel.

The fire companies still plan to participate in the Memorial Day Parade though, the report says.

Mountain View Fire has temporarily closed its Fire Station 8 at 400 Bonanza Drive in Erie due to damage caused by expansive soil beneath the building and surrounding areas, a Facebook post reads.

The heaving soil has caused significant damage to the concrete, plumbing, and drain systems of the station. Fire and EMS apparatus from Lafayette, North Metro, and Mountain View’s Station 6 are providing service to south Erie while Station 8 is closed.

Ground water and storm runoff has saturated the framing and flooring of parts of the station, potentially causing a mold issue. An industrial hygienist has taken samples and is evaluating them for hazards. If the situation can be mitigated, the crews will be moved back into the station until the main station repair can begin later this summer.

The station repairs will involve major repairs to the foundation, and surrounding driveway, porches, and utilities that serve the building. The station will be closed from four to six months for the repairs.

The district is looking to find alternate accommodations for the crew and their engine in the south Erie area, including purchasing a mobile home to use as temporary housing.

The city of Smiley will receive a donated 2008 Pierce pumper from Victoria County via Helping Hands—a Texas A&M Forest Service program, reports gonzalesinquirer.com. The move will save the city upward of $25,000.

All the paperwork has already been sent to the Forest Service, city officials say.

The city was looking at a different truck—a 32-year-old apparatus with a lot of issues—that would have cost between $20,000 to $25,000. The 2008 pumper, though, is gratis. Smiley officials are hopeful to receive the pumper in the next two weeks.

Officials say there will be no charge for Smiley to register and title the pumper as it’s an exempt governmental entity.

Officials say the well-maintained truck had been in service up until recently at the Victoria County Fire Department, which plans to send some crew members to Smiley to train the pumper’s new owners.

The only flaw on the pumper is it has a problem with its rotating spotlight, something with which Smiley is not concerned.

Helping Hands helps donations of lightly used fire equipment, apparatus, and other items get to departments in need throughout the state while providing liability relief to the donor, the report says. Since 1997, Helping Hands has received more than $40.5 million in donated equipment.

Two Northumberland County men are accused of running over three sections of fire hoses during an active structure fire in Kulpmont earlier this month, which caused $4,174.28 in equipment damage and, of course, hindered firefighters from doing their job, reports dailyitem.com.

Norwood Thomas III, 81, and Matthew John Murray, 60, were each charged with seven misdemeanors: three counts of criminal mischief, three counts of tampering with fire apparatus, and one count of recklessly endangering another person, as well as one summary count of disorderly conduct, according to the report.

It all started as Atlas Fire Company crews were fighting a structure fire at 734 Spruce St. on May 6 when the water became disabled. Police officials say they arrived at 4:39 p.m. and were told a white regular cab Chevrolet pickup and a silver sedan ran over three sections of fire hoses, hence the water shortage.

Police officials ID’d the vehicles via surveillance video and eventually found the culprits.

Thomas confessed to running over the hoses, the report says, and said he thought there was no way to turn around on Spruce Street and instead kept driving over the equipment. Murray told police that he drove over the hoses because he had to use the bathroom.

The two are set for a preliminary hearing on July 6 at 11 a.m.

The city of Fairmont Wednesday showcased its new $3,660,921.21 fire station 2, located at 1020 Morgantown Ave. on the city’s east side.

See video of the ribbon-cutting ceremony below:

The new, state-of-the-art facility’s entire process took about six years to complete, reports wboy.com, and Fairmont Fire Department officials played a role in the design phase. Health and safety were paramount in the process, they say.

The station can hold an engine and two EMS vehicles or a ladder, the report says. It replaces its predecessor, which was built in 1926 and renovated in 1984 and sits a block away from the new digs. As of now, officials aren’t certain of what will happen to the former facility.

The new station also includes a memorial for two fallen Fairmont firefighters—Captain Okey J. Shaw and Humphrey R. Taylor, according to the report.