Hallowell (ME) city council recently approved the purchase of a $589,083 new fire truck that officials say checks all of the department’s boxes and will be ready to serve the city for the next 25 years, reports centralmaine.com. It’s the first new apparatus in 18 years and will replace 33-year-old Engine 1.

However, one councilor member, who’s a firefighter for a different city, says the city doesn’t need a new truck but rather a truck that will help maintain the city’s Insurance Services Office rating, the report says.

Regardless, the other council members voted in favor of purchasing the Pierce pumper for $589,083, with an upfront payment discount of $18,460.

City officials say the purchase would be financed through Androscoggin Savings Bank, which would pay the total upfront cost, the report says. The city also approved a request for $37,457 worth of equipment required for the new apparatus.

Construction of a new $7.4 million seventh fire station for Greenville, NC, started today (Oct. 19) with a groundbreaking ceremony, according to a report published by WNCT.

According to the television station, the new Fire/Rescue Station 7 will help the city provide shorter response times to a growing area of the community. It will be one-story consisting of 13,383 square feet with three drive-through lanes in the apparatus bay, seven private bedrooms and a clean design to keep potential contaminants out of living spaces.

The station is expected to be completed in the next 18 to 24 months, according to the station.

Mesa (AZ) Fire and Medical Department has agreed to purchase an all-electric powered fire truck from E-ONE for $1.4 million, according to a report published by 12NEWS.com.

According to the report, it will be Mesa’s first all-electric apparatus as the city becomes the second in the nation to move toward all-electric vehicles for fire apparatus.

Firefighters are expecting the apparatus to be able to pump for lines at 750 gallons per minute for up to four hours or to make 10 medical runs before needing a recharge, according to the report.

The cost of the vehicle will be funded through bond dollars authorized by voters in 2018 with additional funds being spent from the city’s capital general fund, the web site reported.

Expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2022, the new electric truck will move the city forward with its goal of reducing it carbon emissions over the next three decades, according to the report.

A 38-year-old man was charged with driving while intoxicated after he crashed his pickup truck, in to a College Station (TX) fire truck that was blocking a separate DWI-related crash on Sunday morning (Oct. 17), according to WBTX 3.

The television station reported the crash happened at about 3:30 am on Raymond Stotzer Parkway when Ralph Velasquez of Bryan (TX), struck the emergency vehicle. He initially told police he hit the fire truck because of driver inattention, but later admitted he had consumed several beers before driving his pickup, the station reported.

Velasquez was charged with unlawful carrying a weapon, and DWI, according to the television station which also reported his bond was set at $6,000.

No injuries were reported.