The Beaufort-Port Royal (SC) Fire Department has a new $800,000 custom-built pumper with more pumping capacity and the ability to carry equipment such as extrication tools and a defibrillator, reports islandpacket.com.

The 33-foot-long, red-and-black rig replaces a 14-year-old apparatus and is the department’s fifth in-service pumper, including two reserves, the report says. Stationed at Station 4 on S.C. 170, the pumper’s first day of service will be Monday.

The pumper was purchased from Spartan Emergency Response in Summerville, but Pierce Manufacturing in Appleton (WI) built it. It can hold 1,000 gallons of water—250 gallons more than any other pumper in the department’s fleet—and carry 1,000 feet of supply line hose, as well as three shorter attack-line hoses, the report says.

The department has 48 shift firefighters and operates out of four stations serving Beaufort and Port Royal.

Portland Fire & Rescue is teaming up with CareOregon in an attempt to improve medical care and reduce the burden on the emergency 911 by providing a new response plan for low-risk medical calls, according to a report published by The Oregonian/Oregon Live.

According to the report, the Portland City Council accepted a $2.5 million grant from CareOregon to create a smaller pilot team of two fire medics that would respond to calls deemed low risk to help reduce the burden of repeat patients who need medical care, but do not need transport to the hospital.

Under the current plan, a fire engine, ladder truck and ambulance respond to all medical calls, the report said, adding the new nine-month trial program will begin on Nov. 15 with two fire medics working from noon to 2 am daily. A roving critical care nurse for each team hired by Portland would be available if needed to help the medics at any location, according to the report.

The newspaper/web site said Portland Fire and CareOregon will evaluate the program at the end of nine months with the hope of extending it throughout the city, if successful.

Madawaska Valley Township (Ontario, Canada) took delivery of a new $386,000 pumper last week that will replace one with more than 30 years of service, reports Yahoo.

The new truck can pump 1,050 gallons of water per minute and has a 30-gallon C02 fire suppressant foam cell on board, according to the report. The real advantage, officials say, is the truck’s high-hat deck with a hose that can shoot 80 feet in the air.

Fire officials expect the apparatus—purchased from Carrier Firetrucks and built by Metal-Fab in New Brunswick—to last as long as its predecessor “Old Faithful” did.

The Sag Harbor (NY) Antique Fire Truck Museum won approval to convert a Bridgehampton farm stand into a museum after the Southampton Town Planning Board voted 4 to 2 to grant a special exception to allow the facility to be created on property that falls outside the permitted zoning of the area, according to report published by sagharborexpress.com.

The museum officials plan to  use the existing 2,400-foot metal building in Bridgehampton for the storing and maintaining of antique fire trucks, according to report, which added that type of use is not permitted in the area in which it is zoned. A museum is, however, allowed in the area, so the building will display photos of antique fire trucks and be open to the public for no more than two hours per month, by appointment, the web site reported.

The building will likely house four apparatus and the planning board place a number of covenants on the property including the prohibition of outside vehicle storage, use of detergents, oils or chemical to clean, paint or maintain the vehicles, according to the report. Additionally, there will be no retail or outdoor displays or sales, according to the report.

Canton (CT) taxpayers will decide November 2 whether to spend $5.4 million for a new firehouse that town officials say could improve service, reports courant.com.

Town officials have been beating the new-station drum for several years now, as they say the River Road firehouse is cramped and outdated. The station, in Collinsville, was built in the early 1970s. And, despite EMTs sleeping there, it wasn’t designed with sleeping quarters, the report says.

It’s about 9,480 square feet with four truck bays, but only two bays are full size. The building has two floors, but with no elevator or ramps it fails to meet Americans With Disabilities Act requirements.

If voters approve the project in a referendum, the plan is to demolish the current building and erect a 14,080-square-foot replacement with five full bays, more storage, and a sleeping area, the report says.