According to a report from WVLT, Tusculum, a small town in Greene County, Tennessee, is facing an issue with the size of its fire station, and its cramped space has Tusculum (TN) Volunteer Fire Department (TVFD) crews hoping for a new building.

The COVID-19 pandemic requires people to be six feet apart, but imagine trying to fit a large fire truck that barely fits inside the building. apart. The moment you step inside the TVFD’s station, you’ll quickly see how social distancing is tough.

TVFD Chief Marty Shelton is working with the town council on a three-phase expansion project that includes a new station. However, the project was postponed because of the pandemic, but it now shows signs of opportunity again.

The TVFD is spread between two buildings. Inside one, the fire truck barely fits. If you look close you’ll see it touches the wall when backed in and barely an inch in the front between the garage doors.

A new building will cost approximately $150,000, before furnishings and new modern fire equipment. It sounds expensive, but in the long run, Shelton hopes the investment will save property owners money and save lives.

The long-range plan has Tusculum Police Department expanding into the current fire department space, leaving more room in town hall for additional renovations there.

The added space would also allow the TVFD to create new living space such as bathrooms, a small kitchen, a meeting area, and so on. Other areas of growth could also mean new sleep areas for crews to staff the station during inclement weather or other available times.

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According to a report from The Johnson City Press, the Elizabethton (TN) Fire Department’s (EFD’s) latest addition to its fleet is now on the assembly line, and EFD Chief Barry Carrier says he is closely monitoring the progress with communication and photos directly from the factory.

In 2020, the Elizabethton City Council applied for a grant from the Rural Development of the Unites States Department of the Agriculture. The grant was eventually approved for $155,300, or about 31 percent of the cost of the truck.

At $405,000, the manufacturing of a vehicle the city will operate for many years is certainly worth following closely, but the approval of the grant is good news for its taxpayers.

The post Elizabethton (TN) Fire Department Receives Grant for New Truck appeared first on Fire Apparatus.

Ceremony held for new Fire Station 7

Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment Staff

FLOWER MOUND, Texas – Flower Mound held an opening ceremony on Feb. 2 for Fire Station No. 7 at 2777 Skillern Boulevard.

The new station was originally scheduled to open in the spring of 2020.

The post Flower Mound, TX Opens New Firehouse appeared first on Fire Apparatus.

Department chooses Sutphen as the builder

Kristi R. Garabrandt, The Daily Jeffersonian, Cambridge, Ohio

(MCT)

Feb. 9—Cambridge Fire Department is replacing it’s 30-year-old pumper truck with a new one without taking out a loan for the purchase. The new truck build is expected to take 15 to 19 months to complete and should join the department’s fleet in 2022.

According to Fire Chief Jeff Deeks, the city signed the contract to purchase the new engine about four weeks.

It’s been a very time-consuming project, said Deeks. It took the department seven months to narrow down the company they wanted to use.

“It’s such a long process because it has such a big price tag on it,” Deeks said. “For an engine, we are looking at $500,000 just for bare bones minimum with nothing fancy.”

After narrowing down to their top three choices, the department decided to go with Sutphen, an Ohio-based company who also built the department’s ladder truck.

Deeks likes the fact that they are located just north of Columbus, which makes it possible for him to periodically check on the progress.

According to Deeks, the department got a pretty good deal. They will receive $10,000 toward the purchase price of the new by trading in the old pumper which had a recommended use of 20 years by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).

“We know we are not a big city and we have to be good stewards of the taxpayers’ money,” Deeks said, adding he hopes to get 30 years out of the new pumper truck as well.

The department knew the purchase of a new pumper trucker was going to be needed, but Deeks planned to put it until next year due. However, he said, the financing fell into place.

“The city council and the city administration did a wonderful thing and we were able to purchase the new engine this year,” Deeks said.

The total purchase price was of the new engine is $505,000. The trade in of the older truck and a $12,000 discount for paying the purchase in price in full dropped the cost down to around $477,000.

“We didn’t want to miss this opportunity to get a good debt knocked off the cost of the truck so we are down to around 477,000,” Deeks said. “We are pretty happy about that.”

When Deeks first made chief, he started a plan to replace equipment and such for the station.

Every year, he would put back what funds he could at the end of the year. The department had approximately $130,000 saved for the new truck and utilized other funding sources such as CARES Act money and reimbursements from BWC. They also n