South Fulton (GA) city officials approved the fire department’s request to apply for a $1 million FEMA Assistance to Firefighters Grant to replace equipment and apparatus, reports mdjonline.com.

Officials say much of South Fulton Fire Rescue’s equipment was inherited in 2017, and some of it is decades old.

Items needing replacement are: extrication, hazardous material, and monitoring equipment; fire hoses; emergency medical equipment; thermal image cameras, ballistic vests; helmets; and fire investigation equipment, according to the report.

The department also seeks to buy seven support vehicles: three 2021 Ford Explorers and four Ford F-150s. And the final improvement is a request to finance a new Rosenbauer engine through the Georgia Municipal Association, the report says.

The department’s current fleet includes two 2002 engines and one 2006 engine, each of which suffers regular maintenance issues, the report says.

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.