The Finance and Personnel Committee for the city of Milwaukee (WI) on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025, approved an amendment that would allow the Milwaukee Fire Department $8 million in new borrowing to replace aging fire apparatus and other vehicles, tmj4.com reported.

The department is confronting a critical safety issue as its fleet of fire apparatus ages past national safety recommendations.

On Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025, one truck went out of service due to a mechanical issue, leaving the department with just eight trucks across the entire city.

A Milwaukee fire official said the city’s last reserve ladder truck broke down Oct. 27, 2025, while responding to an emergency, leaving the department short on equipment and needing to borrow from a neighboring department.

“Local 215 would first like to thank the Common Council for bringing an amendment forward into the budget to address the fire apparatus shortcomings we have with the Milwaukee Fire Department,” the Milwaukee Professional Firefighters Association said in a Facebook post.

“With that being said, today, Sunday, November 2, we had another front-line truck go out of service due to a mechanical issue. We only have eight trucks across the city of Milwaukee. Hopefully, the partnerships with our shared services will bail out the city of Milwaukee again by loaning us a crucial piece of fire apparatus. This would again put us at a full complement of trucks but 25% would be borrowed from our surrounding communities.

“Local 215 strongly encourages Mayor Cavalier Johnson to accept the amendments so we can provide all the resources across the city that are necessary to protect the citizens and keep its firefighters safe.”

With the amendment heading to the mayor’s desk, a spokesperson for his office said, “a reasonable accommodation is very likely to be reached” as the mayor balances “competing priorities and long-term impacts on city taxpayers,” according to the tmj4.com report.

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The Teton County (ID) Fire and Rescue held a push-in ceremony for the newest apparatus being added to the fleet, the department said in a Facebook post recently.

E-1 was completely purchased with impact fees collected from new construction occurring in the Teton Valley, the department said.

“As growth continues here, we are seeing an increased demand on services,” the post said. “So this is an example of growth funding the necessary equipment needed to answer those additional calls for service. In the last 5 years, calls for service have increased 42%. We want to take a moment and thank this community for the ongoing support! We are proud and honored to serve. We are confident E-1 will serve our firefighters and this community for years to come.”

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Lily Alexander
The Santa Fe New Mexican
(TNS)

After years of dealing with ailing equipment, the Santa Fe Fire Department now has six new gas meters — devices used daily in response to situations from structure fires to suspicious odors.

The meters were funded by a $24,000 grant from the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation. Five of them will be placed on the fire department’s front-line fire engines, while the other — a specialized unit — will be used by the heavy technical rescue team, which operates across Santa Fe County.

All the meters can be used by the Hazardous Materials Team, too, according to paramedic Skyler Rodriguez, who heads the team.

The department identified the need for updated gas meters late last year, when an internal audit showed the old ones were outdated and unable to efficiently charge or appropriately calibrate. The city was unable to pay for new meters, so Santa Fe Fire Department paramedic and spare-time grant writer Ryan Floersheim researched other funding opportunities, Floersheim said.

102925 jw firehouse donation 2.jpg

Hazmat technician Skyler Rodriguez talks with a reporter about the new equipment that was donated to the Santa Fe Fire Department during an event Wednesday at the Firehouse Subs shop on Cerrillos Road to celebrate a $23,000 grant for fire department from the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation to buy new poisonous gas detectors.

Floersheim submitted the grant application in January. After it was approved, the department acquired the meters, and crews recently started using them.

“At least once across the city every day, one of these meters gets used,” Floersheim said. “And it will allow our crews to be 100% more efficient and accurate compared to the previous gas meters.”

The gas meters on the front-line engines monitor four common dangerous gases during crews’ day-to-day responses, and measure gas levels after a structure fire to determine when members of the public can safely reenter the building. More specifically, crews use the gas meters to look for hidden gasses, including hydrogen cyanide, hydrogen sulfide, carbon monoxide and chlorine gasses, plus what Rodriguez called “the super nerdy stuff”: volatile organic compounds, which are produced when plastic is burned.

Heavy technical rescue personnel required a specialized unit because they are responsible countywide for every rescue of someone trapped in a trench and confined space rescue — an operation to remove someone trapped in a sewer or silo, for example — Rodriguez said.

Their new meter will allow crews to monitor the air in a confined space from the outside, without actually entering, he said.

When the Hazardous Materials Team uses the meters, it brings them all to one centralized location — the scene of a tanker rollover or the site where a suspicious package was delivered, for example. The team also performs sensitive site security, where it partners with federal entities during some big New Mexico events, like the Burning of Zozobra.

“We can kind of strip all of the front-line engines of their monitors, consolidate them, give them to the people who are experts at this, i.e. my hazmat team, and then augment those federal assets and get all of those gas monitoring into one place,” Rodriguez said.

The new meters have cellular chips and an online portal, allowing Rodriguez to look at the data they are collecting in real time, he said. Their battery life far surpasses that of the old monitors — 72 hours versus three hours, respectively.

The Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation, founded in 2005, has granted $92 million to fund equipment, training and support for first responders across the United States. Of that, $400,000 has gone to New Mexic

In this episode of Talking Trucks, Chris Mc Loone sits down with Ricky Riley to break down the complexities of heavy rescue truck design. They explore fundamental decisions that fire departments face—crew cab configurations, walk-in versus walk-through bodies, and single versus tandem axles—highlighting how equipment types and mission requirements shape these choices. The conversation delves into customization of compartments, weighing the benefits of tailored tool storage against the risks of over-specialization, especially given the evolving nature of rescue gear. They also tackle modern trends like battery-powered cordless tools and question the necessity of traditional generators. Drawing on real-world experience and on-the-ground insights, Ricky offers practical advice for departments aiming to build durable, mission-focused rigs that balance innovation with adaptability.

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