The grant was used to purchase a slip-on unit that was added to a 5-ton excess military truck.

The Department of Defense Firefighter Property Program, within the Texas A&M Forest Service system, provided the slip-on.

Chief Allen McWhirter of West Lake Limestone VFD says the slip-on will be used to knock down grass fires in their growing wildland interface, farming, and ranching community.

The Meridian Rural Fire District will pay up to $1.5 million for the new fire station’s operational costs over the first year or so, including firefighters’ wages and benefits. The district made this offer when the city considered pushing back construction to 2019.

There was some urgency to get the new station built because Meridian has only one fire station south of Interstate 84. This leads to longer emergency response times in that part of town, according to the fire department’s 2016 report.

Meridian last built a fire station nine years ago for $163 per square foot, Meridian Fire Chief Mark Niemeyer told City Council in July. Current costs, he said, are closer to $250 per square foot. The new station will tentatively be 12,580 square feet.

In July, the city estimated that the new station would cost $4.7 million in capital costs, including $3.15 million in construction, $314,500 for architectural design and $744,500 for a new fire engine.

These capital costs are eligible to be paid for by impact fees, which are generated from new development.

Last month, Cape Coral residents were angry thinking the city’s fire department was endorsing mayoral candidate Joe Coviello. The truck was later moved, and stripped of it’s political signage.

On Monday, the truck was spotted again, covered in campaign signs, parked feet away from a former Cape Coral fire station on Veteran’s Parkway and Santa Barbara Boulevard.

“I think they should stop it,” said Cape voter Ivan Vega. “It’s influencing people that the fire department is supporting Coviello. And if it isn’t true, they shouldn’t be putting it up.”

The truck also hit two Syracuse fire trucks, according to a Syracuse Fire Department Facebook post. The department also reported a pedestrian was injured.

Witnesses reported other cars were also damaged by the truck during the pursuit.

The female officer was not badly injured, Helterline said.

Syracuse police and Onondaga County sheriff's deputies were involved in the pursuit, which ended near the Rescue Mission.