According to a report from The Siskiyou News, at a meeting that also welcomed two new members to the department, Yreka (CA) Volunteer Fire Department (YVFD) Chief Jerry Lemos announced that the department’s new fire truck should be delivered by the end of June.

Lemos said that Pierce Manufacturing is currently building a new Freightliner FXT 3,000-gallon water tender at its facility in Appleton, Wisconsin, to replace the YVFD’s 12-year-old Seagraves Attacker. 

The Yreka city council approved the engine purchase at its last meeting. The council had previously approved selling the Seagrave Type II four-wheel drive pumper engine, which was starting to have issues.

The cost of the new tender is approximately $450,000. Lemos said the new engine would bring the YVFD more versatility to better reach and attack fires. 

At the same meeting, Lemos also welcomed Robert Goyeneche and Lawrence Morris as the latest members of the YVFD.

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According to a report from The Post-Journal, the Westfield (NY) Village Board is considering a resolution to allow the Westfield Volunteer Fire Department (WVFD) to apply for a $625,000 2020-21 Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant to replace its 1996 E291 Pumper-Tanker engine.

The tanker is the oldest engine in operation for the WVFD, being in active service for 25 years.

Although WVFD officials remains hopeful they will be receive the FEMA grant, they face competition in acquiring new vehicles, while the part of the grant for vehicles is a low percentage of the entire grant. The board needed to approve the grant because, per the grant’s terms, there would be a required five-percent match of the grant from the community, totaling $31,250 in additional funds the community would be expected to foot.

The motion for approval passed through the board, although the WVFD has not laid out an exact timeline on when they’ll find out if or when they’re actually approved. The board is also looking into other possible grant options.

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Ed Ballam is the newest member of the Clarion Fire Group family after being named the new Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment Senior Editor.

Ed is the assistant chief of the Haverhill Corner (NH) Fire Department and a nationally registered emergency medical technician. He is also a deputy forest fire warden for the New Hampshire Division of Forests and Lands.

He has been a journalist and an editor for more than 35 years, including working nearly 25 years for national fire trade publications. He was the original managing editor of Fire Apparatus magazine from 1997 to 2008.

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According to a report from The Crossville Chronicle, a bid of a little more than $400,000 was approved by the Cumberland County (IN) Finance Committee to purchase equipment as well as a new pumper truck for the Cumberland County Fire Department (CCFD).

NAFECO submitted the one and only bid, for $348,459, for the new KME Freightliner Pumper truck. NAFECO also submitted the low bid for the equipment: $21,468. Emergency Vehicle Specialists of Nashville also bid $21,749.98 for the loose equipment, but the bid was not submitted by the deadline.

The county had budgeted $375,000 for the fire truck and equipment purchase, leaving enough funds to also buy emergency communication radios. The committee also approved a bid for a demo unit of a Hurst “Jaws of Life” rescue tool from Municipal Emergency Services at a bid of $24,675.76.

The CCFD also needs a new air lifting bag. The committee received three bids, from between $17,965 to $21,708, with the lowest bid coming for a Homaltro product bid by Emergency Vehicle Specialists that did not meet the bid specifications. The high bid, from NAFCO, for Paratech air lifting bags, was $2,560 higher than the Vetter product bid by Municipal Emergency Services.

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