The deadline to apply for the 2018 Assistance to Firefighters Grant through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is Friday.  

The structure would be built behind New Philadelphia’s new fire station on E. Front Avenue. It would have several different training areas, including confined space, rappelling, forced entry and a search maze, according to New Philadelphia Fire Chief Jim Parrish.

The infrastructure for the burn structure is already in place, he said. It was included in the plans for the fire station. New Philadelphia is seeking the grant in cooperation with the city of Uhrichsville, the Arrowhead Fire District in Gnadenhutten, the Tuscarawas-Warwick Fire Department and the York Township Fire Department.

Among the departments benefitting from the grants are Niles, Des Plaines, Glenview, Prospect Heights, Morton Grove, Northbrook, Glencoe, Highland Park, Evanston and  Deerfield-Bannockburn. Those departments are all part of the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) Division 3.  

Some departments are receiving upgraded radios. Most are receiving a significant software upgrade which fire chiefs from Niles and Glenview said will be a great help in locating firefighters in distress in a fire.

Niles Fire Chief Marty Feld said the new communications feature in advanced digital radios and software provided in the grant will allow fire scene commanders to “ping” the location of a missing or unresponsive firefighter, if those firefighters become unaccounted for at a fire scene. The grant is funding the purchase of four new Niles Fire Dept. radios and the software upgrade.

Johnson County Consolidated Fire District No. 2 is one of three fire agencies building new stations right now.   

Shawnee hopes to open a new station near 53rd Street and Woodsonia Drive in January. Kansas City broke ground on a station on Cookingham Drive in the northeast corner of the city this year.   

The district will relocate firefighters and trucks from a current station on Roe Avenue. Lopez said a study showed while the district serves eight municipalities, the majority of calls came from central Prairie Village, so building a station there would improve response times. 

Tisbury Fire Chief John Schilling said the new $429,000 engine combines components two truck manufacturers — KME and International — with customizations by Bulldog Fire Apparatus. Schilling called the engine a “true four-wheel-drive” as opposed to an all-wheel drive engine.  

Tisbury’s long dirt roads, like Herring Creek and Northern Pines, are tough to navigate in muddy or snowy conditions, Schilling said. The 4×4 engine will allow the fire department to  deliver 1,000 gallons of water to a fire scene.