The trucks — a 1989 Pierce Arrow fire engine and a 1985 GMC tanker, capable of holding 3,000 gallons of water — cost the department $25,000, but Burris said they’re critical pieces of equipment the department has been trying to acquire for some time.

“I need to be able to have 4,000 gallons (of water) on the road, responding to any structure fire in our district,” Burris said, adding that the purchase of the tanker, combined with the department’s two existing brush trucks, will allow him to reach that goal.

The water capacity requirement is part of compliance standards set forth by the Insurance Safety Organization, commonly known as ISO standards.

Burris said the department wanted to purchase three trucks but couldn’t put the deal together fast enough to secure the third truck.

“I’m thankful for what we’ve got now,” he said. “With what we have, and the training we’ve got at the house, we’re going to be able to go forward as smoothly and as efficiently as possible.”

As much as Homer firefighters appreciate the trucks’ arrival, they know they still have work to do to reach compliance.

“I’ve got the water capability, but I’ve got to come up with four self-contained breathing apparatuses and four SCBA tanks for us to be 100 percent compliant with what’s required,” Burris said.

Burris said he is trying to find the best deal on the remaining equipment needed so he can present county commissioners with a request to purchase the tanks and breathing apparatus. He said the department has until Dec. 5 to get the equipment in place.

Fire crews will acknowledge that the drone did not locate Kenneth Tracy, but it helped narrow the search field for the ground crews that eventually located him Thursday morning.

Dover Township Deputy Fire Chief Brian Widmayer wears many hats at the volunteer fire department.

His latest one? Drone operator.

It came in handy Thursday.

"[The search crews] knew that we had one, and they knew that it's licensed and insured, so they contacted us right away to get up, and that was due to the helicopters [that] were unable to fly due to the fog," he said.

By 8 a.m., Widmayer had the drone in the air scouring the open fields to search for Tracy.

"The drone can cover a lot more area a lot quicker than ground teams," he said. "The ground teams were concentrating on the thick wooded areas with their dogs as well as their grid searches. The drone was going to take care of the corn fields pretty quickly."

Emergency responders nationwide are catching on to the trend of getting a drone, but Dover Township's is believed to be the first in the area.

“We're using it for search and rescue efforts, site ops for urban search and rescue, building collapses, trench rescues,” Widmayer said.

There are also uses for the drone in a structure fire. For example, Dover Township firefighters who fought the large blaze at a gun store in West York two weeks ago could have used it had the fire happened in daylight.

The 1937 American LaFrance "Tiller" Fire Truck, was purchased new by the Grand Rapids Fire Department along with two fire engines. The truck will be reunited with one of those engines in the museum's collections. 

"We are thrilled to be working with the Grand Rapids Fire Department and a group of volunteers who helped bring this truck back to its home in Grand Rapids," said Tom Dilley, chair of GRPM's collections committee. "At the Public Museum, we cannot think of a better place to preserve the history of this truck, but also share it with the public."

The Tiller truck has an 85-foot extension ladder used to fight fires in tall buildings and with rescues from high spots. The truck is built like a tractor-trailer and incorporates a "Tiller wheel," its namesake, which controls the rear wheels to easily maneuver through narrow city streets.

In 1976, the truck was retired and sold at an auction to a private collector of historic vehicles. An anonymous donor bought the vehicle in October.