By Alan M. Petrillo

Occoquan-Woodbridge-Lorton (VA) Volunteer Fire Department, known regionally as OWL Fire Department, needed to replace a rearmount aerial platform. It chose to go with a midmount aerial platform built by Seagrave Fire Apparatus, a 95-foot Aerialscope on a Marauder chassis with a 141-inch full tilt cab.

Wayne Haight, OWL’s chief, says the department is a combo agency with career staff 24/7 at two of three firehouses along with medic units. “In our three stations we have six engines, a heavy rescue, a 105-foot tower and 110-foot ladder, (one in reserve), two brush trucks, a collapse/rescue unit, an air/light truck, three utility vehicles, four ambulances, and three rescue/fire boats,” Haight said.

Craig Williams, owner of Emergency Vehicle Services, who sold the truck to OWL, says the fire department already has four Seagrave pumpers, and two on the production line, so it was natural for the department to go with a Seagrave aerial for its fleet. “The fire department chose a raised roof on their Aerialscope to emulate the roofs on their Seagrave pumpers,” Williams points out.

Haight says that the department wanted to focus on where the truck would be placed at a fire scene. “A midmount aerial apparatus is much easier and quicker to set up at a fire scene than a rear mount rig,” he says, adding that the OWL Marauder Aerialscope is powered by a 500-horsepower (hp) Cummins X12 diesel engine with an Allison 4000 EVS automatic transmission and a Telma Retarder Auxiliary Braking System.

Hubert (NC) shipbuilder US Watercraft said it has been selected by New Hanover County (NC) to build a custom 30-foot aluminum fire/rescue vessel, MarineLink.com reported. Now under construction, the vessel will be delivered in early 2023.

Located in the southeastern part of the state, the county has 31 miles of shoreline on the mainland and barrier islands, with communities facing both the Cape Fear River and the Atlantic Ocean.

In addition to fire-fighting capacity, the aluminum catamaran will feature an hydraulic bow door for deploying a rescue ATV. The vessel can land on the beach to offload the vehicle in areas not easily accessible by road, the report said.

At 30’ LOA with a 12’ beam, the vessel will have a forward-leaning walk-around cabin. It will be equipped with twin 300 hp outboards, fire pump, and hydraulic drop-down bow door, the report said.

Glenwood City Council was told recently that to renovate the city’s half-century old fire station buildings would cost $6.5 million, Opinion-Tribune.com reported. To tear down existing structures and build a new two-story structure would cost $9.4 million.

The cost estimates, prepared by HGM Associates architectural and engineering firm, are for keeping the fire station at its current location on South Walnut Street, the report said.

Conducting the feasibility study is only an initial step in addressing the city’s fire station issue, the report said. Other sites have been mentioned informally as possible locations for a new fire station, including the Glenwood Resource Center campus.

A city official noted that funding for a new fire station would require approval from city taxpayers in a bond issue vote, according to the report.

Winnebago County (IL) received $54 million of federal funds from the American Rescue plan yet less than $150,000 was awarded to local fire departments, WIFR.com reported.

More than a dozen representatives from Winnebago County fire departments were at Tuesday’s Winnebago County Board meeting to stress that they may have been short-changed when it comes to federal dollars, the report said.

Northwest Fire Chief Jerry Caskey believes more first responders across the county should be taken into account when it comes to federal funding through the American Rescue Plan, especially considering all the work they did at the start of the pandemic, the report said.

Caskey is also the vice president of the Winnebago Fire Chiefs Association, composed of fire chiefs from Winnebago and Boone counties.

North Park Fire District received $50,000 to help build a new fire station, but they say those funds only helped with part of the construction, the report said. Other districts weren’t as fortunate.

The city of Edwardsville is partnering with the Bank of Madison County to finance the construction of its new East Fire Station through the issuance of $6.87 million in general obligation bonds, RiverBender.com reported.

The city council on November 15 approved an ordinance authorizing the issuance of the bonds, the report said. The bonds will cover costs for the $5.1 million East Fire Station, 7407 Governors Parkway, the report said.

They also will cover the costs of a new aerial ladder fire truck and building improvements to the City’s Campus Fire Station at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, according to the report.

The East Fire Station is expected to open in November 2023. It will include 8,400 square feet of space, with three double bays to house multiple trucks and ambulances, the report said. Once opened, it will replace Station 2 on Montclaire Avenue, a smaller facility that opened in 1969.