The station is primarily responsible for a long, skinny stretch of West Palm Beach, so response times vary depending on where the emergency is, but Assistant Chief Diana Matty said Friday that overall response time improved by 1 minute, 43 seconds through June 3, compared to when the next-closest stations responded in the past. “Depending where you are in the zone, it makes a tremendous difference,” Matty said.

Prior to having Station 9, calls went to stations 5, 6 or 7 and those calls averaged 8 minutes, 19 seconds. The average from the new Station 9 is 6 minutes, 35 seconds.

That nearly two-minute difference “absolutely” can make a life-or-death difference in a medical emergency, she said.

One of the biggest improvements comes in the response time to emergencies at MorseLife nursing home on Haverhill, Matty said.

The average response there from Station 6 was 7 minutes, 45 seconds. If Station 6’s firefighters were busy and Station 7 responded, it took 13 minutes, 19 seconds to get to MorseLife.

Now, from Station 9, the trip takes 5 minutes, 51 seconds.

Gillette, Campbell County and the town of Wright are jointly building the new fire station using state consensus money. Earlier estimates put the price tag of the building at $3.1 million, but that increased to almost $3.6 million when the guaranteed maximum price was set with the construction manager at risk Hladky Construction, Hamilton said in a memo.

Hamilton said the lower prices were attributable to the region’s economic woes.

“The amount of work that’s currently being put out is significantly less than it has been,” Hamilton said.

There were multiple bids from companies in the region for almost every trade, including eight bids for the electrical work, he said.

“It’s a very competitive bidding climate right now,” Hamilton said.

Because the prices were lower than expected, four items that had been removed from the basic project to keep costs down were added back in. Those included interior LED light fixtures, an epoxy floor coating in the apparatus bay and gear room, an exterior storage shed and a masonry screen wall for the garbage collection area.

It brought the costs down to $3.3 million, leaving about $250,000 to return to the funding entities.

Hamilton said the money could be used for a new project that the city, county and Wright could agree on.

Hartsdale will use the money to purchase 80 new self-contained breathing apparatus for three fire departments, according to information from Gillibrand.

Hartsdale Fire District Chief Ed Rush said he was thrilled to hear about the award, adding that it will help keep firefighters safe and allow them to do their jobs more efficiently.

The deluge gun’s arm extends 15 meters above the ground, so it is able to reach fires at the top of large aircraft. Conventionally, deluge guns are fixed in a direct position on the upper part of the vehicle body. HRET models, however, can not only extend the apparatus but can rotate it side to side and up and down, so they can be used for fires in both high and low places, even at near-ground level.

A piercing nozzle made of special steel can be attached to the tip of the deluge gun, allowing it to bore into the aircraft and apply firefighting agents directly.Speech

"It doesn't take much to get up above the trees and get a different vantage point that's never been seen," said Mat L. Matthews, a certified Edmonton drone operator and instructor.

But while they may get you that once-in-a-lifetime shot, they also put people at risk, Matthews said.

When a wildfire starts, the air around it immediately becomes a restricted airspace. Drones that do fly unauthorized in the area risk grounding firefighting aircraft. 

On Thursday, wildfire manager Chad Morrison said they were investigating an incident involving a drone within Fort McMurray. 

He also reinforced the severity of what could happen should a drone come into contact with aircraft . 

"Anything that can get caught up in the rotor can cause damages. It's not just a bird strike, right? It can be quite serious and cause aircraft to fail," Morrison said.

"The consequences can be dire. There is no margin or room for error when you're talking aircraft safety. It's fine if a drone gets destroyed or broken but you can't replace people's lives".

He asked for all drone activity in the area to stop immediately.