A ribbon cutting ceremony is planned for Saturday (Oct. 23) to commemorate Beatrice (NE) Fire Rescue’s new fire station, according to a report published by the Beatrice Daily Sun.

The newspaper reported the station was budgeted to cost $8.3 million and is being funded by a half-cent sales tax which brings in about $1 million annually.

The new fire station has a 16,000 square foot apparatus bay and far more space than the department had in the city auditorium where it has been located since 1965, the television station reported.

A study to build a new station began 20 years ago and it took five years to complete, the television station reported, adding that a financial crisis halted any plans for a new station in 2008. In 2014, the city began thinking about a new station again and last March, ground was broken for the station on South Sixth Street.

On the heels of receiving $1 million in last year’s Illinois state capital construction bill for use toward a new fire station, the city of East Peoria has identified a site for the facility, reports pekintimes.com.

The city is in talks with Illinois Central College about building the new digs on its property, specifically on Centennial Drive, near the Dingledine Campus, the report says.

Officials say the location would decrease the department’s overall emergency response time. They add that the ground-breaking ceremony for the station is slated for next year with hopes it will be operational by mid-2023.

Voters in Solon (IA) will be asked if they will continue to support a 1 % local option sales tax that will help fund a new second fire station for the city that has seen rapid growth, according to a report published by WCRG9.

The television station reported voters adopted the sales tax in 2014 to help pay for street and sewer projects as well as activities for children and older residents with a provision that it sunset, or end in 2025. By asking voters to eliminate the deadline, future projects, like a new fire station, would have funding, the station added.

A new fire station is set to open by the end of 2022 and the money from the taxes will only be used for the fire station and other new projects, like a community fitness center, the station reported.

Minot (ND) City Council has expedited the approval of the purchase of a new fire engine after the manufacturer notified city officials that demand is raising prices, reports kxnet.com.

The apparatus costs about $600,000, and the city has already paid 50% of that to the manufacturer, according to city officials.

With the engine price estimated to rise 4%, the city wants to save some money by buying it early, according to the report.

The engine will be housed at Minot’s yet-to-be-constructed fifth fire station. And, despite the early purchase, it may take upwards of 18 months for the department to take delivery of it. Fire officials expect Station 5 to be ready for calls in summer 2023, the report says.

The city council meeting can be streamed here:

No injuries were reported after a fire truck in DeSoto, MO, hit its own fire station on Tuesday morning (Oct. 19), according to a report published by FOX2Now.com.

According to the report the damage occurred when firefighters were moving a truck to be cleaned and inspected. The report added that a crew in a news helicopter over the station noticed one of the station’s garage doors was boarded up and that it was unclear to what extent the truck was damaged.