Brunswick and a contractor areexpected to sign a $9.15 million agreement to begin construction of one of the largest fire stations in Maine, reports Mainebiz.

The Brunswick Town Council would be approving a 6,000-square-foot, seven-bay facility. If approved, construction could begin as early as next week.

A fire official said that a new, central fire station has been considered for about 40 years. The current station is 101-years-old. The new fire station would be triple the size of the current fire station.

In 2019, the town council rejected a proposal to replace the fire station at a cost of $15 million, despite widespread public support. Ultimately, the council voted to bond $13.5 million for the replacement.

The new fire station will have bunk rooms, kitchenettes, offices, meeting rooms, 60 parking spaces and a museum for Brunswick’s firefighting service, which was established in 1810. The town now projects costs to run slightly over $13 million.

Fire stations typically have a life of about 50 years, experts say, and many facilities were replaced in the 1960s and 1970s. That’s around the time many fire departments took on additional responsibilities, such as providing emergency medical services. The growth of suburbs also created new geographic demands for firefighters.

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There Portland Fire Department is requesting in this year’s capital improvement budget to purchase a new ladder truck and two new engines, reports Portland Press Herald.

The fire department is requesting $2.7 million from the city’s $16.5 million capital improvement plan. Those three vehicles would help replace six of the department’s oldest pieces of equipment, which are all at least 20 years old. Two of the aging vehicles have failed inspection and have been taken off the road.

The department had hoped to purchase five new pieces of equipment, but because of other funding needs a city official recommended buying only three. The department is likely to request another ladder truck and engine in the 2023 capital improvement budget.

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Construction of Seymour’s new fire station is planned for this summer, reports The Tribune.

Five companies responded to a request for proposals. Fire officials said that the proposal from BW Development met the city’s needs. The project is not expected to cost more than $5 million. The fire station project was first proposed to the city council in November 2020.

Construction would begin in August and take 10 months to complete, finishing in June 2022. The property is expected to cost around $400,000.

The new facility will replace the 54-year-old fire station. Due to the city’s growth, that fire station no longer meets the city’s needs.

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According to a report in The Intelligencer Wheeling News-Register, a $1.2 million platform aerial, built by Sutphen, recently rolled into the Wheeling (WV) Fire Department as the newest apparatus in its fleet.

The new 47-foot-long mid-mount truck will replace a unit that is nearly half a century old.

The vehicle purchase was approved in October 2019 and paid for with Community Development Block Grant funds.

It features a 100-foot aerial platform with a 300-gallon tank and a 2,000-gpm pump. Ladder 1 took about a year to build and is equipped with several new features like a remote-controlled nozzle at the platform.

Wheeling Fire Chief Larry Helms said firefighters will take the next month and a half to train on the new vehicle, which is expected to be in service by mid-March.

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According to a report from Call Newspapers, Crestwood, Missouri, is seeking upward of $1 million in federal grant money to purchase a new quint for the city’s fire department.

City officials were planning to apply for an Assistance to Firefighters Grant through FEMA to purchase the new apparatus.

Fire Chief Lou Hecht told the city’s board of aldermen that a quint apparatus would permit the use of an aerial while running lines for fire suppression at the same time, according to the newspaper.

A new quint could help the city improve its insurance rating, which is already at Class 2

In the city’s last insurance review by the Insurance Services Office, it was noted Crestwood has five buildings with three or more stories and the closest aerial was more than three minutes away.

Hecht said if an award is granted, the city would pay about $50,000 for the apparatus.

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