Firefighters took advantage of cool and moist weather on Wednesday to make additional progress on the Schneider Springs Fire in the north while preparing for the potential of a return to drier conditions this weekend and into next week. A bunch of new firefighters are arriving on the scene Thursday.
- PUB DATE: 9/30/2021 10:11:25 AM - SOURCE: KIT 1280-AM & 99.3-FM

Fire crews stopped a second-alarm fire at about three acres before it had a chance to damage a nearby trailer near the Chelan Hills Acres Tracts development about a mile south of the Beebe Bridge on Wednesday. Kurt Blanchard, Douglas County Fire District 2 fire marshal, said on-scene firefighters believe the brush fire started from a burn barrel.
- PUB DATE: 9/30/2021 10:00:46 AM - SOURCE: Wenatchee World - Metered Site

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.