It had been on the council's consent agenda, a part of the meeting where routine and noncontroversial matters are passed on a single vote. But council member Pete Meitzner said he didn't think the council should approve such a large purchase without more discussion of how the new trucks will be used.

The city is engaged in a pilot program to try to extend the service life of its heavy firefighting equipment.

For many years, the city responded to any emergency call with its closest unit.

Now, the Fire Department is working with the 911 dispatch center to try to cut down on sending the large firetrucks to medical calls if the emergency is not acute and the call can be handled using a smaller truck in a reasonable period of time.

According to Fire Chief Ron Blackwell, the new equipment will include:

▪ A command van with the latest technology for commanding fire units in an emergency situations

▪ Three pumper trucks

▪ Two ladder trucks

▪ One "mobile light and air unit," which provides tower lighting for use in nighttime emergencies and air to supply firefighters breathing masks

The truck features a 100-foot aerial platform, 1,500-gallon-per-minute water pump and 500-horsepower diesel engine. It replaces a 32-year-old aerial unit, for which the city received a $30,000 trade-in allowance from Sutphen.

Public safety officers have noted that the old truck presented numerous electrical and hydraulic issues in recent years, that replacement parts were sometimes difficult to find because of its age, and that it lacked modern safety features.

Public safety officer Dan Smith estimated that it will take about two weeks to fully train department members in use of the newer truck.

During a city council meeting Monday, city manager Rob Straebel noted plans to feature the truck during a community unveiling event at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 29, at the corner of Mitchell and Howard streets. This will take place in conjunction with downtown Petoskey's children's Halloween festivities.

The Walpole State Moving Co. team of corrections officers from MCI-Cedar Junction won first place in the First Responder Division. They also won the "Top Dog" trophy for the highest fundraising bringing in more than $5,000.

As in the past two years there is a special Unified Team division, a team made up of athletes with and without intellectual disabilities.

Special Olympics Unified Sports program promotes social inclusion through shared sports training and competition experiences. Unified Sports joins people with and without intellectual disabilities on the same team. It was inspired by a simple principle: training together and playing together is a quick path to friendship and understanding.

It all started when southbound driver Todd Anderson, 30, of Vancouver switched lanes to avoid hitting two vehicles that had stopped suddenly in front of him, Vancouver police spokeswoman Kim Kapp said. As Anderson switched lanes, his vehicle clipped a minivan in another lane, spinning the minivan into the path of the northbound fire engine, Kapp said.

Engine 10 was transporting a Vancouver Fire Department crew to their station after responding to a commercial fire on Mill Plain Boulevard, Vancouver Fire Department Battalion Chief Rick Steele said. Steele said that the driver of the engine didn’t have time to avoid the collision.

“Our guys are pretty shook up,” Steele said. “We’re not supposed to hurt people. We’re supposed to help people.”