Mobile (AL) firefighters moved back into the Douglas A. Melton Fire Station off Lafayette Street Tuesday, MyNBC15.com reported.

In June, the fire station closed temporarily due to the discovery of asbestos and mold, the report said. Cleanup was expected to take a couple of weeks, but it’s been five months.

Melton Fire Station, a staple in the Midtown community since 1969, closed after what started as a roofing project turned into an asbestos abatement project. According to a fire official, everything from the ceiling tiles, the insulation, the plumbing, and the gut work has been redone.

Edwardsville city and fire officials officially broke ground on the new East Fire Station Tuesday, theintelligencer.com reported. It is expected to be completed in 2024.

The new station is the result of long-term planning by the city. The project has gone through three mayors, previous city administrations and two fire chiefs. The new station will help reduce response times and enable the fire department to meet the expected growth on this side of the city, the report said.

The $5.1 million East Fire Station will be located on nearly two acres of land the city purchased last year on the north side of Governors’ Parkway, east of Oglesby Drive and District Drive, the report said. It’s near the city’s Interstate 55 corridor, an area that has seen tremendous residential and commercial growth.

The East Fire Station project will be paid for through a dedicated sales tax approved in 2014 for public safety facilities, the report said. The city recently issued $6.8 million in bonds for the new East Fire Station, a new ladder truck, and soundproofing at the West Station. 

The East Fire Station will encompass 8,400 square feet of space and include three double bays to house multiple trucks and ambulances, according to the report. It will include environmentally smart features such as solar panels to offset electricity costs; radiant floor heating to more efficiently and quickly warm the bays and to dry wet equipment; and bi-fold bay doors that open and close in about a third of the time of roll-up doors to speed emergency egress and limit building heat loss during cold weather.

The Pierce^® Volterra™ electric fire truck was recognized in the Emergency Services and Defense category and was among 100 winners across ten categories.

APPLETON, Wis. (November 30, 2022) – Pierce Manufacturing Inc., an Oshkosh Corporation (NYSE:OSK) company, announced its Pierce^® Volterra™ zero-emissions pumper has won a 2022 Popular Science “Best of What’s New Award” in the category of Emergency Services and Defense. Each year, Popular Science editors vet thousands of candidates, ranging from advanced engineering to hyper-intelligent software, in search of the latest innovations that help improve lives worldwide. The Best of What’s New list is made up of 100 technologies and products from the past year which stood out in a remarkable way in the categories of aerospace, auto, engineering, entertainment, gadgets, health, and more.

“Our parent company, Oshkosh Corporation, is a technology industrial company and a leader in electrification, autonomy, active safety, and intelligent connected products,” said Eric Linsmeier, business unit director – electrical and software technology with Pierce Manufacturing. “Such a notable designation from a leading technology news source like Popular Science recognizes our commitment to developing electric vehicle solutions tohelp firefighters save lives and best serve their communities. The Volterra electric fire truck is one of our latest innovations, and it’s incredible to see such extensive support and a shared vision for where this technology will take the fire service in the coming years.”

Since the introduction in 2021 as the first electric fire truck in service in North America, Pierce has announced the placement of three Volterra zero-emissions pumpers into three communities, including the City of Madison, Wisconsin Fire Department, the City of Portland, Oregon Fire and Rescue, and Gilbert Fire and Rescue Department in Arizona. All locations represent vastly different climates, allowing Pierce to collect performance data for the vehicle in various environmental conditions.

What makes the Pierce Volterra electric fire truck innovative:

• The Pierce Volterra pumper was the first zero-emissions electric fire truck in service in North America.
• The technology supports municipalities’ growing environmental sustainability goals and agendas to reduce local carbon emissions.
• The Pierce Volterra pumper technology consists of a proprietary Oshkosh Corporation patented parallel-electric drive train featuring an electro-mechanical infinitely variable transmission which allows zero-emissions operation when powered by the integrated onboard batteries.
• The patented parallel-electric drive train can also be coupled to the internal combustion engine to provide continuous and uninterrupted power to the pumping system or drive system when needed for sustained long term pumping operations.
• The Pierce Volterra pumper’s exceptional operational range is tailored to a fire department’s needs and duty cycle for full-shift operation.
• Incorporates a fire station-based, all-encompassing vehicle charging infrastructure provided by an established nationwide energy supplier – offering a thorough, simple, and fast charging solution. 

The Best of What’s New entry process ensures editors learn about the maximum number of technologies and products from companies, universities, laboratories, and government agencies.

“The Best of What’s New Awards are our way of celebrating the most exciting and groundbreaking innovations of the year. These awards highlight the revolutionary inventions which are helping to improve our daily lives, our so

The Jonesville (MI) Fire Department’s pumper/tanker multi-purpose apparatus, capable of hauling 3,000 gallons of water to any fire incident, is out of service, Hillsdale.net reported recently. 

The truck suffered multiple critical failures that were only discovered during a fire in Litchfield Township September 11, when firefighters noticed water gushing from the rear of the truck, the report said. 

The incident was a car fire inside a garage with some damage to the garage itself and the water on board the truck was not needed on the scene, according to the report. 

A fire official said the truck’s baffles failed because they were too thin, the welds on the tank were not sufficient and overall the tank itself was poorly designed, the report said. 

The company that made the tank is no longer in business, the fire official said. The city could have opted to repair the tank at a cost of $32,000 but that would have come with no warranty, the report said. 

It is unlikely the truck will be back in service before the end of the year so the department is looking to borrow a tanker to ensure fire protection services go uninterrupted until their truck is back in service, the report said. 

A man is facing a larceny charge after Latta (SC) Police say he broke into the town fire station and took a rescue vehicle around 4:30 a.m. Monday, WMBFnews.com reported.

He was found about eight hours later in Nash County (NC) thanks in part to an alert Circle K gas station manager, who saw the suspect pull in and thought something wasn’t right, the report said.

The Circle K manager said the man claimed to have bought the fire SUV at a car sale, the report said.

The manager contacted the Nash County Sheriff’s Office, who was there within minutes, not before the suspect began to take items out of the back of the SUV, according to the report.

It is unclear how the suspect was able to break into the fire station and take the vehicle, the report said.