As fire station 2 in Friendswood (TX) is undergoing construction, a property owned by The Harbor Church will temporarily serve as the local station, reports communityimpact.com.

The lease agreement between the city and the nondenominational church was unanimously approved at a recent city council meeting.

Earlier: Design Work to Replace Friendswood (TX) Fire Station

The Friendswood Fire Department’s temporary facility will be located at 1710 Lundy Ln., and the lease will start February 1 and run through February 1, 2023. According to the report, a temporary parking area and equipment cover will be placed to protect the firefighters and their equipment.

Work on station 2, located at 2605 W Parkwood Dr., is expected to begin in May. The max price for the project is $3.6 million against a $4 million budget, the report says. Council unanimously voted to accept the price and authorized Houston-based Christensen Building Group to commence with construction.

Daviess County (KY) officials are exploring the possibility of creating a third paid fire station to respond to growing areas and also assist other volunteer fire departments, reports messenger-inquirer.com.

Between 2011 and 2016, the county department made an average of 300 emergency runs a year, but these days that number is upwards of 1,000 per year, the report says.

Although there’s no location or timetable for a new station, officials say it’s on everyone’s mind.

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It can take a longer-than-desired time for an ambulance to reach a scene, so a potential new station could provide medical aid while an ambulance in on the way, the report says.

In addition, the new station would lower insurance rates for nearby homeowners.

By Alan M. Petrillo

The Hall of Flame Museum of Firefighting in Phoenix, Arizona, celebrated its 60th anniversary last year by inducting the restored Fire Department of New York (FDNY) Rescue 4 truck that was almost completely ruined when it responded to the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. The restored rescue is now part of the Museum’s permanent collection.

In 2017 Robert Allen, formerly of FDNY Engine 232, purchased the 1996 FDNY HME Saulsbury Rescue 4 rig and two years later donated it to the Hall of Flame Museum under the condition that it would never be used for anything but a museum display. At the time when Rescue 4 responded to the World Trade Center on 9/11, it carried a crew of eight firefighters, all of whom died when the towers collapsed.

Mark Anello of Fountain Hills, Arizona, who was instrumental with Rick Stuve of Phoenix in restoring Rescue 4 for the Museum, says the rig was stationed in Queens when the World Trade Center call came in. “Rescue 1 ran out of Manhattan and was totally destroyed, while Rescue 2 came out of Brooklyn and was so badly damaged it had to be cut up and destroyed,” Anello says. “Rescue 3 from Bronx and Rescue 4 from Queens survived and went into a spare pool for about eight years, while Rescue 5 from Staten Island went to haz mat.”

Anello, who served nine years as a volunteer firefighter in the Franklin Square (NY) Fire Department, as a dispatcher is Nassau County (NY), and later as a Colorado corrections officer and highway patrolman, notes that when the Museum got Rescue 4, the restoration had been started on the truck, but there was still a lot to be done. “It didn’t have any doors on it,” he pointed out. “The Remembrance Project in Chicago got the two cab doors and one crew door from Rescue 3, which had been scrapped, and we were able to use them on Rescue 4. Then we had Rescue 4 repainted, re-striped, and had the logos hand-painted on the rear.”

Stuve, who served 20 years as a volunteer firefighter with the Massapequa Fire Department, has an affinity for working with vehicles. “I’m a nuts and bolts guy and was able to get some warning lights donated by various venders,” Stuve says. “We wanted to restore Rescue 4 to how it was as it responded to the World Trade Center that day. Whelen gave us all the strobe and warning lights to replace the damaged ones on the truck.”

Stuve credits Anello with getting all the painting and body work done on Rescue 4. “There are the origi

E-ONE—Charlotte County Fire & EMS, Punta Gorda, FL, stainless steel walk-around rescue; Cyclone medium cab and chassis; Cummins X12 500-hp engine; Onan 15-kW generator; 25-foot, 6-inch rescue body. Dealer: Steve Kern, REV RTC, Ocala, FL.

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