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Posted: Jun 6, 2025

Tariffs’ Impacts: What We Know So Far

It doesn’t feel that long ago (2018) that Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment tackled the topic of potential tariffs and their impact on the fire service. Many times, our thoughts immediately moved toward fire apparatus and how tariffs would impact their costs and production. Given the current context of lead times and costs for fire trucks, it’s natural to do the same thing now as Washington, D.C., announces a variety of tariffs at different levels. But, it’s important to remember that many other fire truck components and tools we use regularly could be affected.

Currently, given how often the narrative changes, it’s difficult to pin down what, if any, impacts fire service suppliers are experiencing regarding various tariffs, especially the recently announced tariffs on steel and aluminum that went into effect on June 4.

Paul Darley, CEO of Darley, says that tariffs have not impacted the company’s supply chain significantly. “We try to use USA manufacturers and suppliers wherever possible,” he states.

According to a statement from the REV Fire Group, “Since the tariffs were announced, REV Group’s supply chain team has been working diligently with our suppliers to gain a greater understanding of their financial impacts. Suppliers have been broadly cooperative, though select suppliers have revealed opportunism in leveraging these circumstances to increase pricing unauthentically.”

John Pfeifer, president, chief executive officer, and director, Oshkosh Corp., parent company of Pierce Manufacturing, explained at its Q1 earnings call that nearly all of what the company sells is built in the United States, and the company has a broad US production footprint. The company is proactively working with its supply chain, which is global, to mitigate potential impacts from tariffs. It also is not experiencing any supply chain disruptions or reductions in demand due to tariffs

Impacts to customers, for Darley, are expected to affect export sales. “The primary impact is on our export sales, which in some years, can account for up to 50% of our fire pump sales,” he says. The bottom line is that suppliers are working to limit tariff effects on customers. “About 15% of our suppliers are imposing tariffs price increases on us,” says Darley. “So far, we have not passed along any of these price increases on to our customers.”

And, the REV Fire Group spokesman says, “The REV Group’s supply chain team continues to negotiate and mitigate exposure, while enacting offsets to neutralize the impacts, on behalf of our valued fire departments.”

Fire departments should contact their fire apparatus and equipment vendors for more specific information.

The post Tariffs’ Impacts: What We Know So Far appeared first on Fire Apparatus: Fire trucks, fire engines, emergency vehicles, and firefighting equipment.

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Posted: Jun 6, 2025

Fire Station in Bulloch County (GA) Expanded to House Firefighters

Bulloch County Fire Department Station 9 in Clito, Georgia, will open soon with a crew of firefighters on site, the Bulloch County Board of Commissioners said in a Facebook post.

The building has been used since 1985, housing gear and apparatus for the volunteer department. It originally had only two bays, but was expanded over the years.

Using inmate crews from Bulloch County Correctional Institution, the county converted the classroom and office space and added on another 1,500 square feet to create living quarters for on-shift firefighters, the post said.

When it opens, it will be the county’s fourth staffed station.

The post Fire Station in Bulloch County (GA) Expanded to House Firefighters appeared first on Fire Apparatus: Fire trucks, fire engines, emergency vehicles, and firefighting equipment.

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Posted: Jun 6, 2025

Fresno County (CA) Fire Apparatus Involved in Rollover Crash with Truck

Anthony Galaviz
The Fresno Bee
(TNS)

A Fresno County Fire engine was involved in a crash with a Ford Bronco on Thursday.

The crash happened just before noon at American and Maple avenues.

The fire truck was responding to a grass fire near the area and had its emergency lights on. The Ford entered the intersection just as the fire engine crossed its path. The front of the Bronco collided with the left side of the fire engine.

The collision caused the fire truck to roll over.

The driver of the Ford Bronco sustained a complaint of pain injuries. Both the fire engine driver and passenger also reported pain-related injuries. All were taken to a local hospital.

“We’re incredibly grateful that no serious injuries occurred in ,” CHP spokesperson Mike Salas said. “Incidents like this are an important reminder of how crucial awareness is especially at intersections.”

©2025 The Fresno Bee. Visit fresnobee.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

The post Fresno County (CA) Fire Apparatus Involved in Rollover Crash with Truck appeared first on Fire Apparatus: Fire trucks, fire engines, emergency vehicles, and firefighting equipment.

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Posted: Jun 6, 2025

Department Adds Twin Custom Pumpers, Standardizes on One Manufacturer

The Ferguson (MO) Fire Department protects a city of 18,000 residents with 29 paid full-time firefighters/EMTs/paramedics running from two stations that house two pumpers and a Rosenbauer 109-foot Viper aerial ladder quint with a 1,750-gallon-per-minute (gpm) pump, a 500-gallon water tank, and a 30-gallon foam tank. When Ferguson decided to replace its two pumpers it chose to have Rosenbauer build it two new identical engines.

Steve Williams, apparatus sales specialist for Sentinel Emergency Solutions, who sold the twin pumpers to Ferguson, says the rigs are built on Commander chassis and 78-inch cabs with 18-inch raised roofs that seat five firefighters, and Crossfire EXT heavy-duty extruded aluminum rescue-style bodies, powered by Cummins X12 500-horsepower (hp) engines, and Allison 4000 EVS automatic transmissions. Wheelbases are 144 inches, overall lengths are 35 feet 8 inches, and overall heights are 11 feet 2 inches.

Each Ferguson pumper has a Waterous CXVC20 1,500-gpm pump, a 750-gallon UPF Poly water tank, a 30-gallon foam tank, and a FoamPro 1600 foam system.

Williams points out that the pumpers have Waterous CXVC20 1,500-gpm pumps with enclosed pump panels, UPF Poly® 750-gallon water tanks, 30-gallon foam tanks, FoamPro 1600 Class A foam proportioning systems, all Akron electric valves, and V-MUX electrical systems.

The pumpers carry 250 feet of 1¾-inch hose in crosslays in extended front bumpers, two 250 foot 1¾-inch speedlays, and each has one 250 foot 2½-inch speedlay at the pump panel; hose reels with 150 feet of one-inch booster hose in rear compartments, and Task Force Tips Monsoon electronic-controlled deck guns.

The rigs carry ground ladders in a hydraulic ladder rack on the officer’s side.

Williams says that each rig carries a SmartPower 6-kW generator, a hydraulic ground ladder rack on the officer’s side, and two coffin compartments on top on the driver’s side. He adds that the compartments on the pumpers are 26-inch-deep, full height and depth, and that Sentinel fabricated the custom shelving and slide-out trays and tool boards on both rigs.

Lighting on the pumpers includes Federal Safety LED warning and emergency lighting, Federal Safety 87-inch wide Navigator red/blue/white LED lightbars; HiViz FireTech LED scene lighting; and SoundOff Signal full-width LED traffic advisors at the rear controlled by SoundOff Signal MPower light

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Posted: Jun 6, 2025

Allentown (PA) Unveils Plans for $65M Replacement to Deteriorating Central Fire Station

Lindsay Weber
The Morning Call
(TNS)

Allentown’s new, $65 million proposal to replace its Central Fire Station — the city’s busiest fire house that is in deteriorating condition — would create a safety and wellness center that includes a new home for the health bureau.

Under the proposal unveiled Wednesday, the fire and EMS facility and the health bureau would operate out of two new, interconnected buildings at the corner of North Fourth and Turner streets near the city’s downtown. City officials plan to name the proposed complex the Allentown Life Safety and Wellness Center.

Central Fire Station, now located at 723 W. Chew St., was constructed in the 1920s and originally was a Chrysler car dealership before it was converted to a fire station in the 1950s. The 100-year old building is plagued with issues like roof and window leaks, mold, lack of storage space, holes in the walls and a crumbling building facade. It is not ADA-compliant, and lacks both space for firefighters to properly decontaminate their gear — which gets exposed to carcinogens and other hazards during fire responses — and separate facilities like locker rooms or bunk rooms for female firefighters.

“We heard a lot from fire department employees who said, ‘We make it work, we make it work,’ and I just want to emphasize that when you have that attitude, you’re taking an enormous amount of energy, resources, time and creativity into making your building work,” said Bekah Rusnock, director of development for Alloy5, the firm hired to conduct a feasibility study for the new complex.

“And working in an architecture firm, it is our job to make sure that building works for you. We are not seeing that right now at Central Fire.”

According to Alloy5 senior planner Michelle Mozingo, Central Fire Station is in “poor” condition per the firm’s standards, which rate buildings from “critical” to “excellent.” The building could become “critical” in the next one to three years in its current state, she said, which would mean firefighters and EMS workers would immediately need to relocate.

Alloy5 planners suggested the corner of North Fourth and Turner streets, which is currently a parking lot for Lehigh County Jail employees and is owned by the county. The new building would be around 65,000 square feet and house 65 city employees, with space to accommodate up to 90 employees as the city grows. The two buildings would connect to a parking deck for city and county jail employees. The health bureau building and fire and EMS building would be connected but with separate front entrances.

The city’s health bureau, which operates out of rented space in Alliance Hall two blocks away from Central Fire Station, also has deficiencies, planners said. The building is not ADA compliant, lacks storage space and has acoustic issues that could present HIPAA violations, because passers-by can overhear conversations inside of medical exam rooms.

Combining those three city departments would allow them to better coordinate amongst themselves, and create a more welcoming and open space for the public, officials said.

“In order to better serve the community without the nagging issues that being housed in century-old structures entails

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