The money will be used to give the Fire Department new integrated software to better track and monitor relevant information as firefighters head into emergency situations.

“Say there’s a business in town that has highly flammable materials,” Firefighter Nick Bruno explained to Polito. “We can enter those materials. Certain things, when they’re on fire, you can’t put water on them, where that would make it worse. We can enter all that so we can start to pre-plan what we’re going to do in our head on the ride there.”

The software can also include floor plans and tell responders if someone at a residence is a known fall risk or has a lockbox they’ll need to access.

Though smaller in weight, Rescue 1 packs much more in terms of resources. It can pump 2,000 gallons per minute and carry 750 gallons of water in addition to a 10-gallon foam reservoir.

Paid for through the City of Weslaco’s Apparatus Replacement Program, 25 percent of which is funded through the department’s EMS revenues, the 2017 Ferrara MVP (multi-vocational pumper) is also designed for full-disciplined response. This, according to Fire Chief Antonio Lopez, means that it comes equipped with every aspect of municipal emergency operations, including trench, high-angle and confined space rescues as well as dive, HAZMAT and medical treatment capabilities.

As part of training, Charlotte firefighters are in the middle of annual driver operation training including driving forward, backing up, and navigating three-point turns in narrow lanes marked by cones.

"It gives us a chance to let guys and girls get out and drive through obstacles, get a feel for the truck, get an idea of the spaces they can go through without hitting anything," Capt. Knight said. "Because different parts of town have different challenges. The outlining stations they may have bigger areas to drive as far congestion and cars parked on the side of the road as compared to, say, the downtown stations, more developed areas of Plaza Midwood, the Ballantyne areas."

Department leaders say the goal is for firefighters to get to a scene within six minutes of getting the call. Charlotte Fire officials say they meet that goal 80% of the time.