The Harvard (MA) Fire Department will soon be asking the town to approve funding for a new combination aerial/pumper truck, reports harvardpress.com.

Swayed by a state grant that would fund 44% of the total estimated cost (about $1.7 million) for the apparatus, the Capital Planning and Investment Committee (CPIC) recently voted unanimously to recommend the purchase. The remainder would be funded by excluded debt, which has to pass at both a mid-October town meeting and at the ballot box on November 2, according to the report.

Earlier: Harvard (MA) Voters to Consider Debt for Fire Dept. Aerial

Fire officials say the new apparatus would replace the 42-year-old tower purchased by the department in 2015 for about $20,000. Officials say that that truck responds to about 16% of calls, but the new one will respond to about 47% of emergencies.

If the purchase does go through, the department will not drop any of its existing pumpers, the report says. Instead, when their time is up they’ll be put in reserve status for six years then replaced.

County officials recently approved the bids for three high-clearance fire trucks for Hardin County (TX) Emergency Services Districts (ESD) 1, 3, and 6, reports silsbeebee.com.

The winning bidder for the ESD 1 apparatus was Diamondback Emergency Vehicles for $198,000; the lowest bidder of the ESD 3 truck was Siddon-Martin Emergency Group, for $176,503; and the lowest bidder for ESD 6 fire truck was the Siddon-Martin Emergency Group for $179,497, according to the report.

Related: Hardin (TX) Gets Its First Aerial in History

Station 75, Richland, WA, newest fire station, was officially opened with a ceremony on Wednesday (Sept. 29), according to a report published by KEPR.

The television station said community members, as well as firefighters and police officers, celebrated the opening of the city’s fifth station.

The new station, which is located on Battelle Blvd off George Washington Way, will be staffed with three firefighters 24/7 and was designed to keep pace with growth in the area, according to KEPR.

A new fire station is coming to Summerville (SC) and will serve as the town’s sixth station, reports live5news.com.

Officials say Station 6 will be built on Miles Jamison Road, right next to the Coastal Center. They add that the belief is that site work will be completed by December and land will begin being cleared by January 1.

There is no specific Station 6 address yet, but officials say it will sit between the traffic circle and the Coastal Center on Miles Jameson Road.

The current closest station to the area averages a 7- to 10-minute response time, while Station 6 will cut that down to under five minutes, according to the report. Station 6 will have the same amenities as the other stations in town and will house an engine and 12 firefighters.

Osceola County (FL) officials have approved the construction of three new fire stations after firefighters and residents have been asking for more coverage over the past 30 years, according to a report published by WESH 2.

The television station said since 1989, the population of the county has more than quadrupled from 99,000 to more than 388,000 in 2021, but the number of fire stations  has remained the same.

The addition of three stations will help reduce the number of calls each station must take as well as reducing the response times, the television station reported.

In addition to the new fire stations, the county has approved funds for staffing and equipment in each, WESH reported.

Ground breaking on the first new station is expected to occur in December, according to the television station.