“The county is changing their radio system to a trunk radio system and all of our current and portable radios will be obsolete,” said Fire Chief Neal Herko.

The funds are provided by Department of Homeland Security’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) Program.

The funds are intended to alleviate some of the cost for the mandatory upgrade, according to Herko.

He adds, “Were only about one-square mile big, so our fire protection area is very small.”

Along with Fire Station 73′s four-bay facility is the city’s long-awaited backup 911 emergency call center next door, a joint facility for the Jacksonville’s Sheriff’s Office and Fire and Rescue Department when both are opened next year.

The facilities will be at 5845 Aviation Ave. just south of the Normandy Boulevard and 103rd Street. When completed, the new station will receive the fire engine now at Station 56 next to the runways at the sprawling 23,000-acre Cecil Commerce Center and also get a new rescue unit now housed at Station 17 on Huron Street.

The new fire station means an improvement in the home and business owners’ ISO insurance risk rating, which is high within five miles of the airport’s existing station, Fire Chief Kurt Wilson said. Engine and rescue response also will be quicker to area homes, he said.

Hawleyville purchased a 2003 Pierce Enforcer quint truck from the Town of Monroe. The vehicle had been used by the Monroe Volunteer Fire Department. The 49,000-pound vehicle has a 500-gallon water storage tank. Its pumper can move 1,500 gallons of water per minute. It is powered by a 450-horsepower diesel engine. The truck has a 10-kilowatt generator. The vehicle carries 1,000 feet of five-inch diameter fire hose.