San Rafael officials recently approved contracts to rebuild San Rafael (CA) Fire Department Stations 54 and 55, reports marinij.com.

The contract went to Wickman Development and Construction Inc. for $8.9 million with an $880,900 contingency, the report says. San Rafael also awarded a $280,300 contract to Loving Campos Associates and Architects Inc.—the firm that designed the project—for supervision and administration.

Stations 54 and 55 were built in the 1960s and require myriad upgrades. The former’s work will add a second story to elevate living quarters above the flood zone and will feature an elevator, accessibility upgrades, a new gym, a kitchen, and separate sleeping and restroom space for male and female staff, the report says.

The wood-framed apparatus bay at Station 55 on Point San Pedro Road will see its living quarters demolished and rebuilt, though in a single-story structure. There will also be an onsite emergency generator added, according to the report.

Construction is set to begin in January and will continue for 10 to 12 months, officials say.

The work is part of the city’s $73 million essential facilities project to repair and replace key emergency services buildings. It was paid for through a portion of sales tax dollars collected from Measure E, which was approved in 2013. The new contract approvals kick off the second phase of the project, the report notes.

More information about the project can be found here.

Related: Solar Power for Fire Apparatus and Emergency Vehicles

Video via fox2now

The Washington Park (IL) Fire Department—as well as residents, city officials, and other public departments—is trying to pick up the pieces after a massive fire Tuesday destroyed part of its headquarters in a municipal building, reports fox2now.com.

Flames engulfed the multi-complex building—which houses the city’s fire, police, and public works departme

The plans for Station 10—which would be located on the east side of Columbia (MO), at the intersection of East Richland Road and East St. Charles Road—sit as a bone of contention with several property owners in the area, reports columbiamissourian.com.

Many local, angry property owners Wednesday evening attended an interested-parties meeting regarding the city’s plan to turn their land into a fire station.

They aired their disdain with how the city has encroached on their land in the past, some of which was close to the proposed area for the fire station, according to the report.

The plan is still in its planning stages; the land for Station 10 has not yet been acquired, and the next step will be to take this plan to City Council to pursue property acquisition, officials say.

Fire Apparatus reported in August that Columbia is putting Station 11 in southwest Columbia, and officials expect to break ground on that later this year.

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The Desloge (MO) Fire Department (DFD) has stepped up to help the Marquand Fire Department (MFD) after the latter lost its tanker truck to an accident a couple of months prior, reports dailyjournalonline.com.

On a call one night, an MFD crew member was turning the truck around when it died. He lost control, it flipped, and rolled down a 50-foot embankment, the report says. The 2,0000-gallon tanker was destroyed, but the firefighter suffered just two small cuts.

DFD just happened to have a 1992 tanker and a 1987 pumper lying around that weren’t in use. The report says the Board of Aldermen voted to wave the bidding process and approve a sale of the two trucks to Marquand for $15,000.