Volunteer firefighters at Crims Chapel received an unusual call Monday morning, when it was discovered that smoke was coming out of their fire station.

The fire broke out around 8:30 am at the Crims Chapel Fire Station located in Henderson.

Chief Marvin Vinson observed heavy smoke coming from the building and contacted the Rusk County Sheriff's Office dispatch center.

Elderville, Henderson, New London Fire Departments, along with Champion EMS, responded to the call. Upon entry into the building, firefighters discovered one truck, Rescue 15, heavily involved in fire. The fire was quickly extinguished.

Rescue 15, a 2005 Ford F-550 rescue and fire attack truck, sustained heavy fire damage. The adjacent trucks and station sustained minor damage for the most part. No injuries were reported by any responders.

For more information, view www.cbs19.tv

Squad 1 is one of Syracue Fire Department's most versatile crews. Squad can respond to any emergency in the city, regardless of area. At a house fire, its job is to cut a 4-foot-by-4-foot hole in the roof to provide an escape for fire, smoke and heat. It's also responsible for Ladder 1, the fire engine equipped with a 135-foot-long ladder that can scale a building more than six stories tall.

The squad can also be called upon to extricate people from crashed cars.

When not saving lives, the crew can find itself doing the unusual. Have a ring on your finger you need cut off? Squad has you covered.

Handcuffed to your bedpost in a compromised position? Squad has handled it before and will again. No questions asked.

Squad 1 is one of five companies housed at Fire Station 1 which recently allowed a syracuse.com reporter and photographer to observe a 14-hour overnight shift. Life at the station at 900 S. State St. bounced between schoolyard pranks and a mad rush to save lives.

The calls that night ranged from drug overdoses to a car crash, but no fires. That's becoming the norm for a department that as of Nov. 12 handled nearly 21,000 calls, of which only 161 were fires.

When Syracuse Fire Capt. Karl Field joined the department in 1994, 80 firefighters worked each shift to cover the nearly 17,000 calls they handled that year. Now, only 65 firefighters are on duty at a time, but their workload is higher than ever.

For a recap of the shift -- from a confirmed car accident, drug overdoses and medical calls -- view syracuse.com

Killeen firefighters answering a water leak call Wednesday morning were mired at the location when the front tire of their truck fell through a sink hole in the pavement on the street.

Firefighters were sent at about 6:30 a.m. to a water leak call at the Village at Fox Creek apartment complex on Illinois Avenue and when the truck driver pulled up to park, the front tire of the truck crashed through the pavement and into a sink hole.

After the Sewer Department and firefighters stopped the water leak. After they had to turn their attention to trying to get the fire truck free of the sink hole safely and without damaging it.

The city estimated the sink hole was about three feet deep.

The truck was extricated from the hole at around 9:30 a.m. It wasn't damaged.

For more information, view kwtx.com

Police said a Rochester fire truck was involved in a car crash Sunday. 

Officers say that the collision happened on Mt. Read near Garland. As the fire truck was making a u-turn, it was struck by a southbound vehicle. Officials say the fire truck had its emergency lights on at the time of the crash. 

The driver of the other vehicle was treated at the scene. Investigators say that he will be ticketed. 

For more information, view whec.com

Simplex Aerospace announced the receipt of an FAA STC for its High Rise Firefighting System, Model 516, for the Airbus Helicopters H225. The High Rise Firefighting System, nicknamed the SkyCannon™, also recently received a Japanese JCAB. This Simplex SkyCannon™ will be the first helicopter based high-rise firefighting system to be operated in Japan.

The Simplex Model 516 SkyCannon™ was delivered to Japan Aerospace for delivery to Tokyo Fire Department. The flight test was performed September 2015 at Tokyo Fire Department.

President and CEO Mark Zimmerman explained, “The SkyCannon™ is a rapid response skyscraper firefighting system with the capabilities of a ground-based fire truck. The SkyCannon™ allows aerial firefighters to arrive at a fire quickly, free of traffic congestion, and prevent the fire from spreading as ground firefighting crews combat the fire from within the building, thereby providing occupants valuable time to evacuate. To date, Simplex has produced SkyCannon™ systems for the Avicopter AC313 and Airbus Helicopters H225, and the company plans to adapt the system to additional aircraft platforms in the future.

The Simplex Aerospace SkyCannon™ High Rise Firefighting system is the result of several years of research and development into determining an efficient and safe method for fighting high-rise building fires. Fires in high-rise buildings can quickly grow out of the range of conventional ground based firefighting equipment. Using an aerial firefighting system mounted in a helicopter allows firefighters to reach the fire before it spreads to the upper floors of the building. The Simplex Aerospace SkyCannon™ gives fire fighters a valuable new tool to save lives and property in the event of a high rise building fire.

Founded in 1946, Simplex has built a reputation as the leader in design, manufacturing, and certification of aerial application systems and mission equipment for helicopters. Simplex maintains its industry leadership by incorporating the latest technology in designing and manufacturing systems from high-strength, low-weight composite materials to produce reliable and cost-effective solutions for firefighting, agriculture, utilities maintenance, and other aerial applications. For more information, please visit them at www.simplex.aero.

Click Above for More Pictures of the Fox >>

By Ron Heal

A recent field trip by the Heart of Illinois Fire Enthusiasts and Collectors (HOIFEC ) took them from central Illinois to the southwest side of Chicago. Their destination was the Fire Museum of Greater Chicago. The focus of the outing was to look over a 1928 Ahrens-Fox 1,000-gpm N-S-2 piston pumper. An added benefit was to learn more about the building that houses the big pumper and the organization that keeps things moving to preserve the history and tradition of the fire service in the Greater Chicago area.

The Fire Museum of Greater Chicago is located at 5218 S. Western Avenue in Chicago, IL. The building served as a firehouse to Chicago (IL) Fire Department (CFD) Engine 123 and Ambulance 8. Opened in 1916 as one of three similar two-story brick structures in use by the Chicago Fire Department, it would remain in use as a fire station until 1974. When the engine and ambulance moved over a few blocks to new quarters, the building was used by other City of Chicago agencies off and on until eventually the building was abandoned and boarded up.

In 2008 the Fire Museum of Greater Chicago was looking for a home that could house a growing collection of fire history and memorabilia. This group is a 501 C3 not-for-profit group that is some 1,100 members strong. There are a good number of active firefighters as well as many retired Chicago and area firefighters and their families that belong. Membership is a modest $30.00 a year for an individual. There are additional levels of membership. A very dedicated core group of approximately 15 persons are the heart of the museum.

When the group entered into a lease with the city in 2008, they were recipients of a structure that was badly in need of major repairs. Many changes had been made to the first floor. Office cubicles had been built on the apparatus floor. The apparatus doorway had been bricked shut; windows had been boarded up; the roof leaked; and there was three feet of water in the basement. Did I say the furnaces did not work? For the next two years members and volunteers would organize a clean-up and restoration that would include a new roof, new windows, restoring the apparatus floor, new glass block windows on the first floor, exterior tuck pointing, replacing the front apparatus door brick work with new apparatus doors, and installing three new furnaces. Much of this work was accomplished with donated labor and materials. Today the second floor awaits restoration so more of the fire history and memorabilia can be properly displayed.

When the HOIFEC group was greeted by retired District Division Chief (ret.) Jack Connors and his son Tim, now a CFD firefighter, the first thing that got our attention was old Engine 10, a 1928 Ahrens-Fox N-S-2 piston pumper. The rig carries serial number 3343, and it’s a beauty! The big pumper had a record of long service with the department starting as Engine 10. It later would serve as Engine 1, Engine 6, and Engine 4 before being retired some 33 year

VIDEO: surveillance captures the accident. A Philly ladder truck crashes on the way to a call. @NBCPhiladelphia pic.twitter.com/9QJHE3rZP9

— Randy Gyllenhaal (@RandyGyllenhaal) November 29, 2015

On November 29, Philadelphia (PA) Fire Department Ladder 13 was en route to an incident when it was involved in an accident that injured the fire truck's five firefighters.

According to philly.com, the fire apparatus, a tractor-drawn aerial, struck several parked cars before coming to a stop. All five firefighters suffered minor injuries. Fire officials said the crash is under investigation.

Read more HERE. 

 The rig is built on a 2015 Freightliner crew cab M2 chassis and was manufactured by Horton. 

West Palm Beach Police are attempting to locate the vehicle and it's occupants after a fire engine was struck by gunfire, reports cbs12.com (http://bit.ly/1lmYW7Z)

West Palm Beach Police responded to the Publix parking lot at 828 Southern Blvd after a fire engine was struck by gunfire. The engine was parking in the lot and occupied by a Fire Captain. 

Officers report that the Captain was not injured and are asking anyone with information to contact Detective Vertefeuille at 561-822-1673

Coxreels® 1125 Series motorized hose reels have all the features demanded by industry professionals. The industry-preferred design features a sturdy, one-piece, all-welded “A” frame base as well as a low profile outlet riser and an open drum slot design providing for a non-crimping, smooth hose wrap. The 1125 Series motor-driven hose reel is operated by a reliable, direct gear drive providing for a quiet and smooth retraction. The gear drive requires no maintenance, lubrication, or chain adjustment.

The gear drive on the 1125 Series also provides a multitude of added safety features, including a simple drive system with less moving parts and pieces, which drastically minimizes workplace injury. In place of the chain sprockets, the direct gear drive ensures anuninterrupted reel operation, as there is no chance of a chain ever breaking or becoming loose.

Coxreels® has remained steadfast and focused on manufacturing high-quality professional grade hose, cord, and cable reels since 1923. Offering a full product line serving the industry in every channel and application, Coxreels® takes great pride in designing, building, and supporting all of their products right here in the U.S.A.

For further information on the Coxreels® gear drive on motor-driven 1125 models and product line, contact Customer Service at (800) 269-7335 or visit www.coxreels.com. 

Rescue 1—Monmouth County (NJ) Sheriff, heavy-duty rescue. Spartan Metro Star X cab and chassis; Cummins ISC 380-hp engine; 18-foot, nine-inch walk around rescue body.

The Gwinnett Board of Commissioners approved two contracts Nov. 3 to benefit the Department of Fire and Emergency Services. The first contract for $488,730 will provide medical supplies through Nov. 3 of next year. The second contract was awarded to low bidder GT Distributors of Georgia, Inc. in the amount of $110,821 for the purchase of protective helmets.

In addition, commissioners voted to accept the Georgia Trauma Care Network Commission Grant to be administered by the Georgia Association of Emergency Medical Services in the amount of $102,777. The grant can be used for the reimbursement of any trauma related equipment and will be used to fund the purchase of protective helmets. The grant is 100 percent funded by the Georgia Trauma Care Network Commission with no matching requirements.

For more information, view www.ajc.com

The city of Boynton Beach closed a fire station to test its air quality and make repairs to the ventilation system.

This comes just before the city received two worker's compensation claims from firefighters stationed at the firehouse. The claims say firefighters showed higher sensitivity to pneumonitis, usually caused by breathing in allergens.

Tim McPherson, the city's director of human resources and risk management, says it's too soon to link the health issues from the worker's compensation claims to the air quality fixes at the station.

"Everything is concerning, they are our employees, our resource, we take everything seriously every time something comes forward," McPherson says.

He explains firefighters noticed a smell in one of the women's restrooms at fire station 3, located on Congress Avenue and Miner Road, in October.

Inspectors found five dead mice in the air ducts. The city brought in two outside firms to test the ventilation system and air quality. The test results gave the city some recommendations which it implemented.

"We've replaced ceiling tile in the whole station. We replaced drywall in areas that were compromised. We cleaned the vents, even though the vent system was relatively new," McPherson says. He points out most of the problems were in a women's restroom and the laundry room. 

A follow-up test was completed last week and the city expects the results to come back Monday. At that point, it hopes to reopen station 3.

The renovations and tests will cost between $7,000 and $10,000, according to McPherson.

The University of Arkansas amended the Fayetteville Fire Department today to discuss possible locations for a new station.

The fire department said they want to replace an old station off of garland avenue.

They are meeting with the university to figure out where response times are more than six minutes. They're considering building a new station to replace the older one.

The fire chief says it is too early to tell how much it will cost or how the project will be funded.

The university does not want to raise student fees and that there a lot of factors to consider.

The next step is to go over response times in the area for each location and meet again next month.

The mother and widow of a newlywed who was killed in a collision with a fire truck in Agoura Hills while driving to a wedding rehearsal dinner for his brother are suing Los Angeles County and the truck's driver.

Eric Stein, 36, and his wife Ksenia Rozen, both of San Clemente, were en route to the event when their car was hit by the truck while Stein was making a left turn along Mulholland Highway about 5 p.m. on July 31, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The lawsuit filed Friday on behalf of Rozen and Stein’s mother, Karen Kirn, in Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit names as defendants Los Angeles County and Michael Aplanalp, who was driving the fire truck.

A spokesman for the county did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the suit, which alleges wrongful death and negligence and seeks unspecified damages.

The Los Angeles County Fire Department issued a statement after the accident that said the department was "deeply saddened by the tragic death of Eric Stein. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family during this difficult time."

The suit alleges the truck was being driven too fast and that Aplanalp was “unsafely passing on the left on a two-lane highway” before colliding with the couple’s car.

For more information, view www.dailynews.com

The 4 Guys rig is built on a Spartan Metro Star LFD cab and chassis, is driven by a Cummins ISL9 450-hp engine, and features an 18-foot rescue body.

Palm Beach County Fire Rescue, West Palm Beach, FL, two special operations/command units. Spartan Gladiator cabs and chassis.

East Dundee & Countryside Fire Protection District, East Dundee, IL, pumper. Spartan Metro Star cab and chassis.