A ceremonial ground-breaking event has signaled the beginning of West Deer Volunteer Fire Company #3’s quest for a new station.

GEDTF grant funding helped the town acquire and renovate an existing building, and officials and locals gathered Wednesday afternoon at 4360 Gibsonia Rd., where the 16,000-square-foot facility will be located, to celebrate.

Officials are hoping construction will begin late this summer with a potential move-in time of fall or winter.

“I can’t wait to come back for a ribbon-cutting,” Senator Lindsey Williams said, as can be seen below:

The Town of Acton will be hosting a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday at 9 a.m. for the new North Acton Fire Station, located at 68 Harris Street. Members of the public are invited.

The new station, located at 68 Harris St., opened on February 24, FA reported at the time.

The new station features more space for firefighters and equipment, as well as several new pieces of equipment meant to help Acton firefighters stay healthy and safe.

The station has a decontamination washer for self-contained breathing apparatus used by firefighters, as well as a washer extractor and drying cabinet for firefighter gear, as well as an ordinary washing machine to help firefighters keep their gear and uniforms clean and pollutant-free.

Learn more about the new facility here:

Acton In Focus – North Acton Fire Station Tour https://t.co/un7cmtaHX5 pic.twitter.com/gYLsf9LdMf

— ActonTV (@ActonTV1) March 4, 2022

Two EMS providers were sent to the hospital Saturday in Poughkeepsie, New York, after their ambulance collided with another vehicle, according to a report.

The crash happened at the intersection of South Grand Avenue and Baker Street around 6:50 p.m., midhudsonnews.com reported.

The news outlet reports the ambulance was responding to an emergency call with its lights and sirens when it collided with the second vehicle.

The ambulance then left the roadway and knocked a streetlight down before crashing into a fence.

Both EMS personnel were hurt and transported by another ambulance to MidHudson Regional Hospital for treatment. The female operator of the second vehicle was evaluated and remained on the scene.

Police ask anyone who witnessed the crash to call the TIP LINE at 845-451-7577.

E-ONE—Loxley (AL) Volunteer Fire Rescue pumper. Typhoon cab and chassis; Cummins L9 450-hp engine; Hale Qmax 1,500-gpm pump; 1,000-gallon polypropylene water tank; 30-gallon foam cell; Akron 95-gpm foam eductor. Dealer: Greg Sylvester, Sunbelt Fire, Fairhope, AL.

MORE FIRE APPARATUS ARTICLES>>

By Alan M. Petrillo

North Boston Volunteer Fire Company, located in the northern section of the western New York town of Boston, needed to update its apparatus and formed a truck committee that recommended downsizing the department’s fleet by replacing two engines and a rescue with two rescue-pumpers.

“We built a new fire hall in 2008, and the cost of the station put us behind in our apparatus replacement schedule,” says Gene Wieckowski, North Boston’s truck committee chairman. “We had a 1994 RD Murray pumper that was due to be replaced in 2014, a 1999 RD Murray walk-around rescue that was overdue for replacement, and a 2006 Toyne pumper that was coming due in 2026. So we decided to purchase two identical rescue-pumpers and had Toyne design and build them.”

Randy Smalley, sales manager for Tri State Fire Sales and Service, who sold the rigs to North Boston, says the PRV XL rescue-pumpers are built on a Spartan Metro Star ELFD chassis and cab with a 10-inch raised roof and seating for six firefighters, five in self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) seats, powered by a 450-horsepower (hp) Cummins L9 diesel engine, and an Allison 3000 EVS automatic transmission. The rescue-pumpers have a Hale QMax 1,500-gallon-per-minute (gpm) pump, an UPF Poly® 1,000-gallon water tank, and a FRC In Control 400 pressure governor.

“There’s a unique layout on these pumpers because there is no true pump panel,” Smalley points out. “The pump is behind the L1 compartment, and the custom-built slide-out-and-down all-electronic pump control panel is in the L2 compartment. Above the pump there’s a transverse compartment for storage of a Stokes basket and backboards.”