The Bethalto (IL) Fire Department is getting a new $180,000 Ford F-550 rescue truck, reports advantagenews.com.

The apparatus will include a water pump so the truck can work smaller calls that don’t require a large pumper, the report says.

Officials are hopeful the department can take delivery of the apparatus next year.

The township board recently granted the Lyon Township (MI) Fire Department’s requests for a facilities study for a potential new station, an assessment center to hire new full-time staff, and approval to buy the township’s first ladder truck, reports hometownlife.com.

The department’s current Engine 2 is a 10-year-old pumper that requires expensive repairs. Officials worked with Sutphen on an apparatus and decided on the $1.3 million, 100-foot ladder, which could be available in July, according to the report.

The township has hired six full-time firefighters and two full-time captains since 2019, but four of the six firefighters and one captain have left to join other departments, the report says. Fire officials are close to ratifying a contract with the union representing full-time firefighters after months of negotiations.

To expedite the hiring process, the board approved assessment centers to test qualifications for selected candidates, at a cost of $8,825 to find a captain from five candidates and $4,300 to test up to nine firefighter candidates, ultimately hiring four, according to the report.

It also approved a facilities study—to be conducted by Redstone Architects at a max cost of $25,000—to evaluate up to seven possible locations for a new station or public safety complex. Renovations to the current facility are also on the table, but a new location in the south would improve response times.

A man and a woman in an SUV died in an accident with a Kansas City fire engine at 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, reports fox4kc.com.

The engine was responding to a call and was running lights and siren when it collided with the SUV, pushing both vehicles into a building, the report says. The man and woman in the SUV died at the scene.

Firefighters are concerned that a pedestrian may also have been struck and remains in the wreckage of the building that collapsed in the accident.

By Alan M. Petrillo

The city of Manassas (VA) fire and rescue system is made up of three organizations, with the city’s Manassas Fire and Rescue Department being the direct arm of city government. It is also composed of the Manassas Volunteer Fire Company, which has been providing fire suppression services since 1892, and the Greater Manassas Volunteer Rescue Squad, that was founded in 1966 providing pre-hospital care. The city also has a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) that assists during major events and disastrous incidents that occur in the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park, and in Prince William County.

David Halman, captain at Manassas Fire Department, points out that the city needed to replace a building occupied by the rescue squad, which had been upgraded several times but no longer met the needs of the department. “Our new Station 21 replaced that building, which was converted to a city logistics center,” Halman says. “The city hired Samaha Architects to do a site selection study to determine the best location for the new station, and to design and construct it.”

F. Thomas Lee, principal at Samaha, notes that once a site was selected, his firm began design efforts that would reflect the city’s slogan of Historic Heart, Modern Beat. “The city wanted to extend the historic downtown appearance to the southern part of the city,” Lee says. “There are la