A train struck a Moline (IL) Fire Department apparatus that was positioned near the tracks while battling a fire to an outside container at an industrial building Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, the department said in a press release.

The fire truck sustained damage, but no firefighters were injured. The rig was placed back in service after evaluation.

The fire department responded to a report of an outside industrial dust collector on fire at Williams, White & Company. The first engine company arrived to find a large metal industrial container with heavy smoke showing. The container was positioned at the rear of the industrial building, near the alley and in close proximity to nearby railroad tracks.

Fire crews worked on scene to contain the fire, using saws to open the metal container and allow water to reach the seat of the fire. The fire was brought under control and mostly contained within 45-50 minutes.

No evacuation of the business was necessary, and no injuries to workers or firefighters were reported.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

The post Train Strikes FD Apparatus While Crews Battle Fire at Industrial Building appeared first on Fire Apparatus: Fire trucks, fire engines, emergency vehicles, and firefighting equipment.

Kathleen E. Carey
Daily Times, Primos, Pa.
(TNS)

Delaware County is on track to complete a nearly $40 million emergency radio system upgrade by the end of the year.

Years in the making and the first major radio upgrade in Delaware County since the 1970s, the final payments on the system are expected to be made with a portion of the $115 million General Obligation Bond county council approved earlier this month.

Entities of government such as counties and municipalities use these bonds spread out over decades to pay for long-term projects and capital improvements.

Danielle Floyd, Delaware County’s director of public works, explained that $22 million of that funding will be used to make the final payments on the county’s new public safety radio system.

“This is a project that was requested by local police, fire and EMS agencies for a long time and this has been a long time in the making for our first responders,” she said. “Under this council, we will be implementing the first overhaul of the radio system in over 33 years.”

Floyd credited the county’s Emergency Services Department for leading the effort and managing this project.

“We remain on schedule to have this project completed by the end of this year,” she said.

In 2022, Delaware County Council unanimously approved the purchase of a $38 million Atlas P25 radio system from JVC Kenwood that will provide 3,700 radios to the county’s first responders and will move the system to a 700 MHz-based operation.

At the time, Haverford Police Chief John Viola said, “This is probably the single, most important thing for all of law enforcement and fire service and EMS in Delaware County.”

This project also includes construction on 21 existing towers and seeing that every police officer in Delaware County has a portable radio that is interoperable across the county.

Fire departments and EMS agencies will also have a portable radio for their frontline first responders to use.

When the purchase was approved, first responders had been having a variety of issues with the communication system they were using.

For example, in the fall of 2019, there were a handful of times the county 911 center noted that emergency personnel were unable to reach the center with their portable radios. There had also been issues with the system being hacked and with channels being knocked out.

The new system will include encryption and it will also meet Federal Communication Commission standards.

At the time of purchase, the county anticipated that of the 3,700 portable radios being bought, 1,500 portable radios will go to police and law enforcement officials, including 1,100 municipal police officers and 400 county, state, federal and tactical team radios; 1,675 portable radios will be distributed to fire and emergency medical services personnel; and 125 portable radios are earmarked for emergency management.

The purchase also includes 400 mobile radios, of which 350 are for fire and EMS units and 50 are for county Special Operations vehicles.

In 2023, Delaware County had a ceremonial groundbreaking to commemorate the completion of the design phase of the project.

Officials and first responders break ground in October 2023 on Delaware County’s $40 million upgraded public safety radio system on Thursday morning at the Delaware County Department of Emergency Services Building in Middletown. (PETE BANNAN-DAILY TIMES)

It also marked the beginning of the construction upgrade of 21 radio towers that would create a mesh microwave net to cover the 191 square miles of Delaware County.

The county was able to use existing towers for a more sustainable project and the project includes higher fre

The Denver (CO) Fire Department and city officials broke ground on Fire Station 40 at the corner of Telluride and 56th Avenue Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, the department said in a Facebook post.

“This is a huge milestone for our community and a major step forward in improving emergency response times and public safety in one of Denver’s fastest-growing areas,” the post said.

Thanks to the Elevate Denver 2017 GO Bond, Station 40 is becoming a reality — a $19.8 million investment to serve the Montbello and Green Valley Ranch neighborhoods with:

• Three bays for fire trucks
• Accommodations for up to eight firefighters and two advanced life support EMTs
• Modern amenities like office space, a fitness room, kitchen, private courtyard, decontamination rooms, and a hose tower

“Shoutout to OZ Architecture and Mark Young Construction for bringing this vision to life. Proud to see our city continuing to invest in safety, infrastructure, and our hardworking emergency personnel.”

The post Denver (CO) FD Breaks Ground on $19.8M Station appeared first on Fire Apparatus: Fire trucks, fire engines, emergency vehicles, and firefighting equipment.

On September 10, I sat down at 3 p.m. and turned on CSPAN-3 to watch a Senate subcommittee hearing about how manufacturers are impacting fire department readiness. I watched it because a lot of what we’ve been reading and, for me, writing about for the past few years has been about lead times and costs. I figured we would get concrete answers on this. A fire chief and the general president of the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) testified, citing lead times and costs as undermining firefighter safety. And, they’re right. If our rigs are out of service or malfunctioning at the scene because we can’t afford either the cost or the wait for new rigs, firefighter safety is absolutely compromised. But, the clarity I hoped for didn’t crystallize, and I began to wonder if this was really about firefighter safety or about business.

Another witness at the hearing was an antitrust lawyer—the person, in fact, who got all this rolling. He asked good questions and made good points. And if the core of all this is about unfair business practices or antitrust law violations, that is one thing. And if that’s what it’s about, personally, I’d rather be left out of it as a firefighter.

There are many sides to what we are experiencing right now. Does the amount of time it takes to get a rig potentially compromise firefighter safety? Yes. But, another question is: How are our fleets being maintained? At the municipal government level, are our requests for new rigs being turned down because the first thing cut from a budget is an apparatus purchase? Did poor past decision-making lead to the crisis a fire department may now be facing that coincides increased lead times and costs? Because all of those things can also lead to a comprise of firefighter safety.

If there is concern in the business world that there are antitrust concerns about fire apparatus manufacturers—businesses—then investigate them. Leave the fire service out of it. Are you saying that there isn’t enough choice in the market? If you break up the brands owned by one company, will that increase your choices, or will it decrease your choices? Filter out the bombast of the hearing and pay attention to the facts.

I do not believe any fire service apparatus or equipment supplier would willingly and intentionally put anyone at risk. I have visited their facilities and company presidents all the way down to the person who tightens the last screw on whatever the product is consider themselves part of the life-saving process, and they take it personally if there is a failure of the device that leads to an injury or death.

Fire apparatus are the big-ticket items. Besides possible new station construction, fire apparatus are the most expensive investments we make. They are naturally going to get attention when we talk about costs. But, where will the Senate stop? There is consolidation in other areas of the fire service. If you go after one area, doesn’t that mean you have to go after another one? And if so, and if the argument for the other companies isn’t firefighter safety, then is this about firefighter safety, or is it about business practices? If it’s about business practices, fine. Just leave the fire service out of it.

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Resources

FAMA Forum: Apparatus Industry Insights

Fire Apparatus Purchasing in 2025

Understanding the State of Fire Apparatus Manufacturing

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