The town plans to purchase property on Hedge Road for a new North Plymouth fire station. When it was built more than a century ago, Plymouth's North Station fire house cost $12,000 and was made of brick. It featured two bays and more than enough room for the horse-drawn chemical and ladder engines that volunteers of the day used to fight fires.
But 106 years later, the firehouse at 0 Spooner St. has outgrown its usefulness.
The wood floor was replaced four decades ago to accommodate heavier equipment. But now modern engines barely squeeze through the doors. And that's with the mirrors tucked in and the wooden trim around the bay doors shaved down.
If the existing engine breaks down or goes out on a call, replacement or mutual aid trucks cannot fit inside.
Expansion is out of the question. The station is situated on a postage stamp lot, with neighbors on one side, an electrical substation on the other and a stream to the rear.
With the center of North Plymouth poised for expansion, town officials have been in the market for a new home for Station 7 for years.
The heirs of one of North Plymouth's business leaders seem to have offered a solution.
The town has reached an agreement with a brother and sister who inherited the home of Paul Sgarzi to purchase his 2.5-acre property at 15 Hedge Road for the new North Plymouth fire station.
Funding was approved by Town Meeting in October and the deal is expected to be to finalized when the estate closes next month. The town would then seek funding for a new fire station using the stations in Cedarville and The Pinehills as models.
The lawyer for the estate said Paul Sgarzi contemplated the deal.
Attorney Anthony Provenzano said Sgarzi talked to him about using the property just off Court Street for a new fire station before his death in October 2015.
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Posted: Dec 19, 2016
The China Spring Volunteer Fire Department added a fire engine to its fleet this week that has some history behind it. The truck was acquired from the West Volunteer Fire Department and it was one of the units that was used after the deadly April 2013 fertilizer plant explosion.
The truck was acquired from the West Volunteer Fire Department, and it was one of the units that was used after the deadly April 2013 fertilizer plant explosion.
To honor the bravery of the first responders on April 17, 2013 the China Spring Volunteer Fire Department crew decided to create a new mascot to feature on the truck.
The mascot is a cougar with a hat with the number 417 on it to mark the date of the explosion.
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Posted: Dec 19, 2016
Posted: Saturday, December 17, 2016 7:22 PM EST Updated: Saturday, December 17, 2016 7:22 PM EST SAN JUAN--Two San Juan firefighters were taken to the hospital after their fire truck flipped over. San Juan police chief Juan Gonzalez said it happened around 12:30 p.m.
Saturday in the westbound lanes of the expressway not far from the Basilica. The crash caused traffic on the expressway from Donna to San Juan for hours.
Officers said the driver lost control trying to get onto the ramp. The crash remains under investigation.
The firefighters' injuries are considered non-life threatening. They have been released from the hospital.
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Posted: Dec 19, 2016
A tractor trailer lost control on I-65 near Smiths Grove, Kentucky Sunday morning, striking a fire rescue truck and two firemen. The Smiths Grove Fire Department had responded to multiple collisions due to icy road conditions on Interstate 65 near mile marker 38.
Just before 6:30 a.m., Kumar Amandeep, 33, of West Hill, California, was operating a 2017 Freightliner tractor trailer and traveling southbound when he lost control of his semi.
He struck a 2006 Kenworth Fire Rescue truck that was on the shoulder with its emergency equipment activated.
Amandeep’s semi-truck then separated from the trailer and overturned, striking Chief Kenneth Priddy and Assistant Chief Steven Wilson with the Smiths Grove Fire Department
Asst. Chief Wilson was transported to the Medical Center in Bowling Green with non-life threatening injuries.
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Posted: Dec 19, 2016
Retired Elizabeth fire chief Lou Kelly died early Friday after he fell ill while responding to a fire in Clark last week and was rushed to a hospital.
The Elizabeth Firefighters FMBA Local 9 announced Kelly's death on its Facebook page on Friday morning.
Kelly, 70, was serving as a Union County Mutual Aid Coordinator while at the Dec.
- PUB DATE: 12/19/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NJ.com
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