Fire Chief Jared Bean said the new tanker replaces a 1984 Ford model that had a 1,200-gallon capacity.

"We're able to get more water (to a fire) quicker," Bean said. "One of our biggest struggles on a structure fire for a rural fire department is water supply."

The department last purchased a new truck in 2007.

Bean said that although there were few problems with the older tanker, it had become one of the oldest trucks in the department's fleet.

WSFR said that through improvements and innovative partnerships over the past six years, it has seen its ISO rating drop from a rating of 4 for most of the insured properties in the fire district to a rating of 2. This rating places WSFR within the top 2 percent of fire agencies nationwide of the 48,754 fire agencies rated by ISO last year. Only 1,060 agencies achieved a rating of 2, WSFR said.

Structures that are more than five miles from a fire station and have water available by fire hydrant received a rating of 3. Structures that are further than five miles from a fire station and are not served by a fire hydrant received a rating of 10. WSFR significantly increased its proficiency in serving the areas with a rating of a 10 by boosting its ability to establish a water tender shuttle operation from 350 gallons per minute to 500 gallons per minute.

“I am proud of the transformation of this organization over the past six years," WSFR Fire Chief Herb Brady said. "We have brought together a diverse group of highly trained career and volunteer professionals who embrace our values of readiness, excellence, courage and respect on a daily basis. We could not accomplish a world-class level of performance without a supportive and engaged board and positive partnerships with the Towns of Windsor and Severance, our four water districts and Weld County Communications.”

Some 200 fire suppression tools were purchased by the Bristol Bay Native Association and Kodiak Area Native Association VPSO grantees and then distributed by the Department of Public Safety's VPSO program, according to Merrill.

VPSOs are usually among the first to arrive at the scene of an emergency like a fire, he said.

The new fire suppression tools will allow a VPSO to either save a building or provide time while volunteer firefighters set up other firefighting apparatus.

Many rural Alaska communities that do not have fire departments, rely on volunteers and community members to respond and fight fires. According to troopers, the new fire suppression tools are thrown into a building, suppressing the fire with a nontoxic chemical reaction which has the potential to save the structure and allow people inside time to escape from the building.

City officials say demolition of a fire station damaged in Hurricane Sandy at 29th Street and West Avenue will begin next week.

The city announced Thursday, April 7 that the building will close by April 15, and the demolition is set to be completed by Memorial Day.

“There will be no interruption in protection and service to residents and guests as firefighters will operate from a temporary station in the same part of Ocean City,” reads a city statement announcing the demolition.

The city will use money from a $1.5 million pool of post-Sandy capital ordinances and reimbursements to build a new structure with a ground floor that will house the same apparatus and equipment as the old firehouse, according to the release. A second floor will include a new living area for the firefighters stationed there.

The city continues to negotiate with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on a reimbursement for this work at the facility damaged by Superstorm Sandy, the statement said.

The construction represents the final phase of a project that began in 2014 with the award of an original design contract.