The Springfield (MO) Fire Department is building new fire stations, catching up on the maintenance of old ones, and replacing gear on a more regular basis, reports news-leader.com. The spending was made possible by the city’s level property tax, which voters extended indefinitely four years ago.

Some of the projects are relatively small—e.g., resealing and restriping parking lots at stations—but others are much larger.

Replacing Old Stations

The city currently plans to significantly renovate or replace two fire stations over the next couple of years. The city recently held the groundbreaking for its Station 4.

Station 7, built in 1958 and located at 2129 E. Sunshine St., is also on track to be replaced, with construction expected to begin in spring 2022.

New Stations

Construction is expected to start on Station 13—located in the 1900 block of West College Street—this June or July at a cost of $2.7 million.

Station 14 is slated to be built in the northeast corner of West Chestnut Expressway and North Duke Avenue. That one is planned to be designed, bid out, and built as part of a 2026 bond series made possible by the renewed property tax.

The Donaldsonville (LA) Fire Department is set to purchase a new Pierce truck via a state contract for $356,423, reports donaldsonvillechief.com.

Following a $180,000 down payment, the remaining funds will be financed over a five-year term at 2% interest.

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The Pella City (IA) Council recently approved a proposal to amend the city’s purchasing policy, reports kniakrls.com.

The move aims to allow the Pella Fire Department to buy a new truck through cooperative purchasing—i.e. organizations band together to bid on products and services competitively to increase purchasing power.

Purchased by the city of Madison (FL) 96 years ago, the American LaFrance Model 75 truck still sits in town—despite the fact that the last fire it fought was the Precision Warehouse fire in the 1960s, reports greenpublishing.com.

The truck—a triple combination pumping, chemical, and hose car—has a six-cylinder gasoline motor and a 750-gallon-per-minute pump, with a sodium bicarbonate chemical tank and hose reel. It was refurbished by the Madison Fire Department (MFD) almost 20 years ago, with new paint, lettering and striping, new reproduction tires, and a reupholstered seat.

A pair of MFD firefighters, Sean Evans and Ben Williams, recently decided to get the old apparatus running again—which they did following its 15-year slumber. Their next mission is to get the pump operating again.

Check it out in action here.