Eddy County’s Board of County Commissioners approved a request to inspect all volunteer fire stations after a summer of heavy rain, reports Carlsbad Current Argus.

The fire department asked for $100,000 out of the fire excise tax fund for the inspections.

ECFR Chief Joshua Mack said building inspections allow immediate needs to be addressed and repairs made.

The Noroton Heights (CT) Fire Department will soon have a new ladder truck to replace the one purchased in 1988, reports darientimes.com.

The Darien Board of Finance recently approved a $1.3 million transfer from the Board of Finance reserve account for the purchase of the new apparatus. Officials will make the final decision on type and price in about two months.

Truck 20, the 1988 Mack CF ladder truck, is the first to respond to structural and rescue calls within its response area; it was refurbished in the early 2000s.

The new apparatus would be a 2022 model year, have a 75-foot aerial device, a 500-gallon water tank, and carry an assortment of hose, hand tools, ground ladders, rope rescue equipment, and water rescue equipment, officials say.

According to a report from Patch, the Austin (TX) Fire Department’s (AFD’s) Austin Fire Station 51, located at 5410 Highway 290, opened for service at 12 p.m. on Sunday, July 18, and will serve Travis County citizens and the Sunset Valley areas of southwest Austin.

On Sunday, AFD members from Station 51 responded to their first fire—in the kitchen of the CK Thai Cuisine at 5207 Brodie Lane.

Station 51 is the second of five new “high-priority” fire-emergency medical services stations approved by Austin City Council. The first opened in 2020 for Del Valle and southeast Austin, according to AFD officials.

Fire authorities said a grand opening and tour will be available in the upcoming weeks.

Oshkosh Airport Products, LLC, an Oshkosh Corporation (NYSE: OSK) Company, announced today that the company has completed delivery of eight Striker® ARFF vehicles to fire departments at the Hawaii airports of Lihue, Hilo International, Ellison Oizuka Kona International, Kahului, and Daniel K. Inouye International. The delivery represents a long-standing relationship with the state of Hawaii and its airport fire departments, which have purchased all Striker apparatus since 2004 and make up full Oshkosh Airport Products fleets.  

“For many years, it has been an honor to support the state of Hawaii’s dedicated aircraft rescue fire fighting teams by producing Striker ARFF vehicles for airports among the islands,” said Jack Bermingham, business unit director for Oshkosh Airport Products. “The remote nature of the islands’ airports and proximity to mainland U.S. can make accessibility to apparatus aftermarket services challenging in some circumstances. With an Oshkosh Airport Products dealer based on the island of Oahu, Hawaii’s airport fire departments have easy access to critical service support and parts inventory for their Striker fleets.”   

Hawaii’s recent apparatus delivery includes:

• Lihue Airport: Two Striker 4×4 ARFF vehicles with a Snozzle® HRET
• Hilo International Airport: One Striker 4×4 ARFF vehicle with a Snozzle HRET
• Ellison Oizuka Kona International Airport: One Striker 4×4 vehicle and one Striker 8×8 ARFF with a Snozzle HRET
• Kahului Airport: One Striker 4×4 ARFF vehicle with a Snozzle HRET
• Daniel K. Inouye International Airport: One Striker 4×4 ARFF vehicle and one Striker 8×8 ARFF vehicle both with Snozzle HRET’s 

Features of Hawaii’s Striker ARFF vehicles:

• Scania Tier 4 Final Engines
• 50-foot (15 meters) and 65-foot (20 meters) Snozzle HRET’s
• Water capacity: 1,500-4,500 gallons (5,678-17,000 liters)
•  Foam capacity: 220-630 gallons (757-2,380 liters)
• Dry chemical capacity: 550 Ibs (250 kg) 

Other notable attributes of the state of Hawaii’s aircraft rescue fire fighting teams’ new Striker ARFF vehicles include TAK-4® Independent Suspension, MADAS data logger system, Hydraulic 10KW generator, crosslay hoses, low attack bumper turret, in-cab SCBA storage, Command Zone™ diagnostics, Eco-EFP™ Foam Measurement, and full firefighting agent capacity with advanced technology features.

Daniel K. Inouye International Airport is located in Honolulu. It’s one of the world’s largest, busiest, and most beautiful airports, covering 4,520 acres of land with four active runways, including the 12,000-foot reef runway, the world’s first major runway built entirely offshore. Kona International Airport is located in West Hawaii and accommodates domestic overseas, international, interisland, commuter, and general aviation flights. Hilo International Airport is located in East Hawaii and is used for interisland air carrier and general aviation operations. Lihue Airport is the primary airport on the Island of Kauai and handles overseas and interisland flights and Kahului Airport is the primary airport on the island of Maui and receives both overseas and interisland flights.

To learn more about Oshkosh Airport Products and the state of Hawaii’s new Striker ARFF vehicles, visit www.oshkoshairport.com.