The newly opened fire station in Cowiche isn't just an upgrade for Yakima County Fire District 1. It also could play a critical role in the county's response to emergencies.

Washington state recommends that counties have a backup emergency operations center, but Yakima didn't have the money for one, said Scott Miller, director of the county's Office of Emergency Management. o when the new station was approved in Cowiche and Fire District 1 administrator Bob Merritt approached with an idea to house a backup center there, Miller jumped at it.

Vicksburg officials have begun negotiations with a local company to build a new fire station on the east end of town.

The Vicksburg Post reported the Board of Mayor and Aldermen have authorized city attorney Nancy Thomas to begin talks with Fordice Construction Co., which had the low base bid of $1.5 million.

It and one other company submitted bids higher than the $1.1 million budgeted for the project.

Mayor George Flaggs Jr. said the board would shift money from other projects in the city's $9.2 million capital improvements bond issue to make up the difference.

SEVILLE, OHIO - Scott Naftzger has been vending vegetables and fruit in Seville for decades. When he heard the Medina County village's fire station had collapsed, it hit home.

"It was sort of heartbreaking", said Naftzger. You see, the station was named after Scott's grandfather, Richard Naftzger, the longtime fire chief for Seville.

News of the collapse spread quickly through the small town. It took around 10 minutes for the building's roof to buckle, then collapse.

Fire Lt. Brock Lemmon says gear and all but one truck were removed from the building and there were no injuries.

It has caused some adjustments in how they cover the Seville/Guilford area. Lemmon continues, "For right now, our vehicles are a little spread out. We've had great help from the city and township and storing the vehicles in the local PD."

The Grapevine Fire Department introduced the newest member of its fleet - Engine 4, The Guardian - on Saturday by going old school with a "push-in" ceremony and first "bath." Dozens of firefighters and well-wishers turned out to symbolically back Engine 4, a 2016 Pierce Rescue Engine, into its bay at Fire Station 4, a tradition that dates to the days of horse-drawn fire equipment.

And honoring another decades-old custom, civic leaders and firefighting fans of all ages wiped the truck dry after it was hosed down at the station located in the 4500 block of Merlot Avenue in south Grapevine.

At the same ceremony, the department retired 10-year-old Quint 4, a 2007 Rosenbauer Quint.