To mark its 150th year in service, Sharpsburg (PA) Volunteer Fire Department purchased a $700,000 Spartan Metro Star 75-foot aerial truck to replace its 21-year-old ladder truck, reports triblive.com.

Improved safety features on the new apparatus include seating for six with SCBA units, better ladder lighting, a larger pump, and more hose.

The truck was originally marked at $1 million before sellers slashed about 30% from the price. The old aerial was sold to a fire department in Alton, N.H.

An official says a 20-year loan, combined with revenue from the borough’s fire tax, will cover payments.

Officials say the Hot Springs (AR) Fire Department’s 1995 LTI tiller has been showing its age recently, and now the board will consider Tuesday night a resolution to award a $1,999,695 contract to Emergency Vehicle Specialists for the purchase of a Pierce Manufacturing tiller and loose equipment, reports hotsr.com.

A workhorse since it arrived at Central Fire Station 25 years ago, the current truck was used to respond to a fire on Prospect Avenue earlier this week, but it’s in need of maintenance.

An official says a potential new truck would be delivered from Pierce’s Appleton, Wisc., factory in 2022 if the board endorses the purchase. Debt the state Constitution allows local governments to finance over five years would be used to purchase the truck. The 1995 apparatus would then be used as a reserve.

The $135 million 2021 budget the board adopted in December included $2.95 million in capital expenses purchased with Amendment 78 financing. It included $2.24 million for a new ladder truck. In March, the board selected U.S. Bancorp Government Leasing and Finance, Inc. to carry the note at an interest rate of 1.29%. The ladder truck was budgeted in the fire fund’s firefighting equipment line item.

Related Articles:
Fayetteville (AR) Fire Department’s New Tiller Leaves Plant
Richmond (VA) Fire Department Adds City’s First Tiller in 23 years
Wilkes-Barre City (PA) Firefighters IAFF Local 104 Trains with New Tiller Ladder
Philadelphia (PA) Fire Department to Unveil New Tiller Ladders

A man was arrested for reckless burning over the weekend in Kennewick. It's that time of year around the Tri-Cities where a simple spark could start a fire that could cause massive damage. The expected winds over the next few days for sure wouldn't help things either. It's dry and hot and it's always a bad mixture especially during fire season here in the Columbia Basin so someone recklessly starting a fire is a pretty serious offense.
- PUB DATE: 5/17/2021 5:57:21 AM - SOURCE: KEYW-FM 98.3

Sutphen—Eastlake (OH) Fire Department pumpers (2). Monarch cabs and chassis; Cummins L9 450-hp engines; Hale Qmax 1,500-gpm pumps; UPF Poly 750-gallon water tanks; Command Light KL415-D-FS light towers; Whelen M9V2 warning/scene lights. Dealer: Ray Capezzuto, Herb Fire Equipment, Powell, OH.

MORE FIRE APPARATUS ARTICLES>>

VIDEO/PHOTOS: Thick black smoke billowed into the air Sunday after a train derailed in northwest Iowa, prompting authorities to evacuate part of a small, nearby town. The fiery derailment happened early Sunday afternoon on the southwest edge of Sibley, which is a town of about 3,000 people roughly 200 miles (321.
- PUB DATE: 5/17/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KMSP-TV FOX 9 Minneapolis