Fire Chief Allen Eisinger said handheld aerosol fire-suppression device, which is designed to be thrown into an enclosed space and help confine the flames to a specific area, seemed to work well. His department will look into purchasing them for its two duty trucks.

"These things used to be about $3,000, so very cost prohibitive," he said, adding that the cost is now greatly reduced.

Materials provided for Wednesday night’s meeting show excavation of the site for the foundation revealed “unsuitable soils and a significant subterranean ground water issue that were not identified during geological assessment of the property.”

The site, on Hamilton Road, is part of a joint development on town-owned property that will incorporate some Orange County EMS services and office space developed by East West Partners.

As part of the approved agreement for the project, the developer is paying $1.75 million of the $3 million overall price tag. But the town is responsible for the cost overruns, records show. The overruns from the foundation work currently stands at $190,000. The town will also have to fund the additional costs of the two fire poles that were designed for the station. Documents show that $10,000 was allotted for the two poles, but the actual cost to purchase and install the equipment is requiring an additional $70,000.

On May 17, 1869, the Evansville Police and Firefighters were reorganized and an initial twenty-one men were hired as semi-professional firefighters.  The position of teamster was also created at this time.  These men would provide and drive the horses needed to pull the steamer engines used to fight fires.  Steamer engines consisted of a boiler that would heat water just enough to create the pressure needed to drive the water through the firefighter’s hoses.  Overheating the boiler could result in catastrophic incidences, including explosion.