Rio Hondo Fire Department Fire Chief William Bilokury said the department got the truck in May. However, firefighters weren't able to use it because it needed some repairs.

The truck was also non-compliant with some state regulations.

Bilokury said the issues were resolved. He said firefighters were able to put the new unit to use over the weekend.

"It enhances our firefighting capability exponentially. We have more resources available here with this vehicle off road high water," he said. "And 1,000 gallons of water provides us with the capability to go fight in areas where we don't have water sources."

Shortly before midnight Jan. 23, Emmett Township Public Safety officers were called to the parking lot of Meijer at 6405 B Drive North in Harper Village on a reported vehicle fire, according to a news release from the department.

When officers arrived they were told that the fire was intentionally set and witnesses described a man they saw sticking a rag or shirt into the gas tank and starting it on fire.

Witnesses called 911 and attempted to extinguish the fire on their own, authorities said.

Witnesses were able to provide officers with descriptions of the man and the vehicle he was driving, and as fire crews finished extinguishing the car fire, a second fire was discovered by employees in the bathroom at the Meijer gas station.

Emmett Township units responded to that call as well, and witness descriptions of the man they saw matched the description of the man accused of setting the car fire.

Other units were called into the area when a suspect matching that description was found inside Walmart at 6020 B Drive North, suspected of attempting to commit a retail fraud. Emmett Police and Fire units responded, and found a man and a vehicle in the parking lot of Walmart, which both matched the descriptions of witnesses. But as officers approached the man, he drove off at a high rate of speed, ramming an Emmett DPS fire engine head-on, authorities said.

The fire truck was pulling into the Walmart parking lot to check for the possibility that the man had set another fire inside that store.

"It's important because often, especially in the city of Scranton, our firefighters are first on scene," Mr. Scanlon said. "In those critical moments of them arriving, having the life-saving medication on hand could really make the difference."

More than a dozen city firefighters on Tuesday received additional training on naloxone's use by Pennsylvania Ambulance operations manager Bruce Beauvais, who has administered naloxone on numerous occasions, he said.

"What I've seen with the nasal Narcan is they'll get up, be a little out of it," Mr. Beauvis told the class.

Firefighters have encountered overdose victims on calls before, Fire Chief Pat DeSarno said. Last week, fire crews on two calls came across people who were overdosing, the chief said. EMS had arrived and the chief did not know how those situations played out, but the extra few seconds of help could have done the victims "a lot of good." Fire Capt. John Judge said that a person passed away from an overdose more than a year ago while firefighters responded to a call.

"This stuff can save lives," Chief DeSarno said.

Not all can be saved, however. The death toll continues to grow.

Pennsylvania Ambulance provided naloxone to the city fire department, which is one of the first local departments to receive the antidote.

They join the majority of local police departments and EMS agencies that use naloxone. Police departments began using it in March 2015 and have reversed more than 40 overdoses throughout the county, Mr. Scanlon said.

The antidote works by blocking opioid receptors in the brain, effectively halting an opioid overdose. It only works for opioid overdoses, however, and not other commonly abused drugs, like alcohol or benzodiazepines.