Fire crews from two districts in Benton County responded to a residential community on the edge of rural land to extinguish an electrical fire threatening a barn on Wednesday night. According to an alert from the Benton County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to the 23,000-block of Tara Road in Benton City for reports of a barn fire.
- PUB DATE: 12/16/2021 1:53:09 PM - SOURCE: YakTriNews

Grant County Fire District 7 has received a grant from the Paul Lauzier Foundation to replace outdated equipment. The grant will allow the fire district to purchase new Motorola pagers. First responders on the volunteer fire department utilize the pagers to receive notifications of emergency 911 calls and information about each incident in the Soap Lake community and surrounding areas, according to the fire district.
- PUB DATE: 12/16/2021 1:24:16 PM - SOURCE: iFiber One News Radio

A pickup truck caught fire Thursday morning following a collision with an SUV near George. State trooper John Bryant says the wreck occurred in the area of the state Route 281 ramp, near Interstate 90. The GMC pickup truck became fully-engulfed in flames following the collision. Grant County Fire District 3 responded and extinguished the fire.
- PUB DATE: 12/16/2021 1:24:16 PM - SOURCE: iFiber One News Radio

The Bethalto (IL) Fire Department is getting a new $180,000 Ford F-550 rescue truck, reports advantagenews.com.

The apparatus will include a water pump so the truck can work smaller calls that don’t require a large pumper, the report says.

Officials are hopeful the department can take delivery of the apparatus next year.

The township board recently granted the Lyon Township (MI) Fire Department’s requests for a facilities study for a potential new station, an assessment center to hire new full-time staff, and approval to buy the township’s first ladder truck, reports hometownlife.com.

The department’s current Engine 2 is a 10-year-old pumper that requires expensive repairs. Officials worked with Sutphen on an apparatus and decided on the $1.3 million, 100-foot ladder, which could be available in July, according to the report.

The township has hired six full-time firefighters and two full-time captains since 2019, but four of the six firefighters and one captain have left to join other departments, the report says. Fire officials are close to ratifying a contract with the union representing full-time firefighters after months of negotiations.

To expedite the hiring process, the board approved assessment centers to test qualifications for selected candidates, at a cost of $8,825 to find a captain from five candidates and $4,300 to test up to nine firefighter candidates, ultimately hiring four, according to the report.

It also approved a facilities study—to be conducted by Redstone Architects at a max cost of $25,000—to evaluate up to seven possible locations for a new station or public safety complex. Renovations to the current facility are also on the table, but a new location in the south would improve response times.