New lighting was added to the truck for greater illumination at night.  

"When equipment gets old, it also becomes less reliable," Matlacha/Pine Island Fire Contro; District Chief Ben Mickuleit  said. "Reliability is important. These new engines are equipped with a 1,000-gallon internal water tank for a quick fire attack and a rear booster reel (1-inch rubber fire hose) for a quicker attack on certain fire scenarios.

The batteries, along with a chainsaw, forcible entry saw and a portable radio were stolen from the District 15 station near Hookers Bend Community sometime between Sunday and Tuesday, Martin said. The stolen items are valued at between $1,500 to $2,000.  

Other stations were able to respond to the house fire, which occurred at a Hardin County firefighter's home. The fire was contained to the kitchen and is thought to be accidental, though it is still under investigation.

St. Amant Chief Officer James E. LeBlanc said that for 46 years the fire station has been used as the community center for the area, hosting weddings, baby showers, graduation gatherings and funeral gatherings.

"So many filled sand bags and late nights surviving one hurricane after another or some sort of natural disaster," LeBlanc said.

The building did not survive the 2016 flood, and the fire department has not operated out of the building since August 2016, LeBlanc said. "We still kept fire trucks in the building, but we have not provided any day-to-day operations from the building since the flood hit the St. Amant community in 2016," he said.

FEMA gave the department $975,000 through a grant, which will be used to purchase the fire trucks.  

The city will then provide a ten percent match, just over $88,000, approved by the city council Tuesday night, along with money for additional equipment and training.

Still on the minds of many in the city is the New Year's Day fire in 2017 on North East Street. Three people died that day and many people questioned the response time.

A dozen city of Lewiston firefighters were learning to use the cameras and other features of the truck at a training Tuesday. The instruction is part of an update at the airport paid for mostly with Federal Aviation Administration money. It involves the truck, basing fire and rescue operations at a new $5 million building on airport grounds starting Monday, and improvements in runway snow removal.

 

The Oshkosh Global Striker replaces a truck that was 22 years old and will be kept as a backup. That truck was on its third motor and has a turret that leaks into the cab where the driver sits, Lewiston Fire Chief Travis Myklebust said. The fire department couldn’t fix the issue because doing so would require the truck to be kept out of service for long periods of time, which isn’t feasible.