The Collins (MS) Fire Department is using a $100,000 federal grant to purchase a large transport truck, reports wdam.com.

The apparatus will be used to haul an industrial fire response unit and other equipment on calls, the report says. Officials say they hope to have it in service next spring.

Some money will go toward individual equipment for firefighters.

Austen Erblat

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

(MCT)

A Palm Beach County Fire Rescue truck heading to an emergency flipped on to its side Saturday afternoon after it was struck by a pickup truck.

The crash happened just after 2:30 p.m. at Palmetto Park Road and Powerline Road in West Boca.

Four people were taken to a hospital but it was not immediately clear who the victims were or the extent of their injuries.

The cause of the crash was under investigation, said Palm Beach County Fire Rescue Captain Pat Wehrle.

Michael Vivarttas, a health advisor at USHEALTH Advisors, was in his office when he heard the collision.

“I heard a loud bang and look out the window to see a firetruck flipped on its side,” he said. “The firetruck was going south on Powerline when a silver truck going west on Palmetto hit the back end of the firetruck.”

Video shot by Vivarttas shows a firefighter emerge from the driver’s seat of the firetruck on his own. As the video pans over, it shows the silver pickup truck with its front end damaged and stopped in the intersection.

He says within minutes, a number of other firetrucks and ambulances were at the scene of the crash.

This is a developing story, so check back for updates. Click here to have breaking news alerts sent directly to your inbox.

Austen Erblat can be reached at aerblat@sunsentinel.com, 954-599-8709 or on Twitter @AustenErblat.

©2021 South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Visit sun-sentinel.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

The Canby (OR) Fire District recently held a ground-breaking ceremony for its new medical response station on Northeast Territorial Road, reports canbyfirst.com.

The station was the focal point of the $4.9 million bond voters passed in November 2018, but the project has been complicated by rising costs for materials and labor, the report says.

The 50-year lease the city granted the district for the property was a boon in keeping costs down, officials say, as without it the project wouldn’t have been possible.

The new facility will be 3,600 square feet, about half consisting of equipment bays, with the rest serving as living quarters and support facilities. While its primary purpose will be medical, the station will also house a fire engine, an ambulance, and two firefighter/EMTs, the report says.

The station will be the district’s third, and officials hope to have it operational by spring 2022.

Last Thursday afternoon, city and Greenfield (MA) Fire Department officials were on hand at the Hope Street temporary fire station to open a time capsule from 1936 unearthed from the department’s former station on Main Street, reports recorder.com.

The time capsule’s opening came just hours before the city closed on the sale of the new station’s property, near the intersection of Main Street and Coombs Avenue, the report says.

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Inside the capsule was a Greenfield Recorder-Gazette article from March 1936, titled, “How new fire station will appear”; an Annual Report from 1936; and a Town Meeting warrant from 1935. A Town Meeting booklet of representatives was also included, as were a handful of coins, a Franklin County Hospital memorandum of agreement, and photos of the crew, according to the report.

And it was an emotional scene when retired Fire Capt. Bob Ferris saw a photo of his grandfather, former Fire Chief Herb Ferris, who was recruited for the Greenfield crew and even helped build the station, the report says.