The Gustine Volunteer Fire Department has taken ownership of a new fire truck, reports The West Side Connect.

Congressman Jim Costa offered remarks at the event before Mayor Pat Nagy presented the check, in the amount of approximately $645,000, to Ken Howenstine, a representative of Burton’s Fire, Inc., of Modesto.

A public dedication of the new truck will be held next week. The truck will be dedicated in memory of Cal Fire Captain Paul Rotondaro, who was instrumental in helping the city secure grant funds to purchase the truck.

With the exception of about $30,000 in local funds, the purchase of a new fire truck was funded by a federal grant received through FEMA, City Manager Doug Dunford said. Fire Chief Pat Borrelli said last week that striping and numbering must be completed and equipment installed before the truck is put into service.

The Oxbow Fire Department is building a new fire station but construction has stalled as they await funding from the state, reports WWNY-TV.

The exterior remains unfinished, leaving it exposed to the weather, walls aren’t covered, and wires are exposed.

The fire department was promised the $100,000 grant from the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York, or DASNY. The department received a little more than $54,000 last fall, but is now waiting for the remainder.

In a press release, DASNY said, “In this program, funding is provided as reimbursement after work has been done and, at this point, the Fire Department has access to more than 82% of the funds for spending they have done. We continue to work closely with the Fire Department officials to obtain documentation to allocate the remainder of the funds.”

The Johns Creek Fire Department has opened a new 9,000 square-foot Fire Station 64, reports The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The city posted to Facebook, “The Johns Creek Fire Department’s (JCFD) new 9,000 square-foot Fire Station 64 is officially in service! Mayor Mike Bodker, Mayor Pro Tem Lenny Zaprowski, and Council members Brian Weaver, John Bradberry, and Erin Elwood, and Fulton County Commissioner Liz Hausmann attended the station’s grand opening yesterday, which was capped off by a traditional fire truck “push-in.” The new station, located on the south side of Kimball Bridge Road between Webb Bridge Way and Jones Bridge Road, features three bays for emergency equipment, a community room, a generator, and its own 1,000-gallon diesel fuel tank to fuel all JCFD fire apparatus.”

The city posted to its website, “Fire Station 64 will house Quint 64, the department’s 107-foot aerial ladder truck. The dual-purpose truck provides a flow capacity of up to 1,500 gallons-per-minute, and the ability to reach up to 107 feet of vertical reach and 100 feet of horizontal reach. The truck also features a 400-gallon water tank and 25-gallon foam tank.”

South Portland city and fire officials opened a new fire station after more than a year of construction, reports Portland Press Herald.

The fire department posted to Facebook, “This afternoon we revealed our new Cash Corner Fire Station. This has been a long journey and are excited to be back in the Cash Corner area. In May 2016 significant mold was found in the old station. After 12 months of meetings and testing ideas were developed on how to mitigate the mold. A full renovation would be needed to bring the building up to today’s requirements or a full replacement of the fire station. Here we are 4 years later with a beautiful state of the art fire station that will serve the citizens and visitors of South Portland for many years to come. Thank you to the citizens for voting for our station! Thank you to City leadership and our City counsel! Construction began in February 2020. A short time after the Covid pandemic began and construction continued. Thank you to Sebago Technics and Great Falls Construction for your hard work and dedication to this project!”

The new station represents an upgrade to the original building, which dated back to the 1970s and was razed in early 2020. The old building, fire officials said, was outdated and too small for the department’s needs for years, but the discovery of mold in the walls in 2018 led to the decision to replace it with the new structure.

After several years of devastating wildfires across Washington, lawmakers this year agreed to make a major investment in wildfire prevention and forest health. It was a fight Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz had been fighting since she first came into office in 2017. And the money — $500 million over the next five years — can't come soon enough.
- PUB DATE: 5/13/2021 2:48:48 PM - SOURCE: Centralia Chronicle