Today was an exciting day for the BFD & the City of Boston as we broke ground on a new Meetinghouse Hill Firehouse, Engine 17, Ladder 7 District 7. pic.twitter.com/0FyLGa2XKr

— Boston Fire Dept. (@BostonFire) February 7, 2023

Monday was an exciting day for the Boston Fire Department and the city of Boston as ground was broken on a new Meetinghouse Hill Firehouse, Engine 17, Ladder 7 District 7, the Boston Fire Department tweeted.

The city of Boston has allocated $24.7 million toward the design and construction of a new Engine 17 / Ladder 7 Fire Station in the Meetinghouse Hill area of Dorchester, the city said in a news release. The new building will feature:

• a sloped roof
• a dormer stair tower, and
• a brick façade that speaks to the historic use of masonry for fire houses.

The prominent apparatus bay canopy will provide shading and a distinctive civic presence. The large windows will introduce daylight into program spaces and create a welcoming entrance to the building. Puddingstone outcroppings will be incorporated, preserving this unique local landscape feature.

The primary theme for this commission is fire fighting and the neighborhood’s relationship with the fire station.

The budget for this public art project is $200,000. The primary theme for this commission is fire fighting and the neighborhood’s relationship with the fire station. This Call to Artists was open to all artists, national and international. There is a strong preference for artists who have a connection to Dorchester or themes of the project.

THE SITE

The Engine 17 Fire Station is located at 37 East Street in the Meetinghouse Hill area of Dorchester. The new site is adjacent to the existing firehouse, and is currently a parking lot. The existing firehouse will remain in operation during the course of construction. 

The original Engine 17 / Ladder 7 firehouse opened on February 15, 1928. It was built on the site of two old firehouses that dated back to the annexation of the Town of Dorchester to the City of Boston. The firehouse sits across the prominent white-spired First Parish Church. Engine 17 / Ladder 7 respond to incidents in the Dorchester and Roxbury areas, and to parts of South Boston.

The site identified for the public art project is the entrance tower, which is largely glass on the west and south sides. We are looking for artists with experience working with translucent materials in public spaces. 

The Greeneville Board of Mayor and Aldermen approved at its Tuesday meeting the purchase of a new fire engine from Sutphen Corp. at a cost of $755,000, greenevillesun.com reported.

In January, the board approved the purchase of a used fire truck at a cost of $595,000. However, that engine had a hold on it from another fire department that ended up purchasing the truck, a fire official said, according to the report.

The fire official said in a letter to the board that the typical wait for a new fire engine is about 36-40 months. However, the delivery of this particular truck will be much quicker since it is a “demonstration unit.” The truck is already constructed and used to demonstrate features to prospective buyers. However, the truck still comes with a full manufacturer’s warranty.

The demo engine became available due to another department being unable to complete the purchase of the truck, the report said.

An Assistance to Firefighters Grant in the amount of $609,000 was recently awarded to the Greeneville Fire Department to help with the purchase of a fire engine, according to the report.

A U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Grant could also help pay for some of the cost of the new fire truck. The grant would fund $50,000 of the purchase of the truck if awarded, the report said.

The department will also sell the two older reserve trucks to help fund the purchase, the report said.

A Manchester fire truck aerial ladder got frozen when it was extended Friday night to fight a fire.

The department had to use tarps and heaters to cover the apparatus and thaw it out so the ladder could be retracted.

The process took about eight hours, WMUR reports.

The department handled about 1,200 calls during the weekend cold snap that set records in New England.

• Fire Truck Frozen at Scene of Manchester (NH) Multi-Family House Fire

Paul Leighton
The Salem News, Beverly, Mass.
(TNS)

Feb. 7—BEVERLY — The city is donating a fire truck to Ukraine as part of a national effort to help the country replace emergency vehicles that have been destroyed in the war against Russia.

The Beverly City Council on Monday voted in favor of declaring a 2002 fire truck as surplus so that it can be donated to an organization called US Ambulances for Ukraine.

“It’s just a tremendous opportunity,” Beverly fire Chief Peter O’Connor said during a City Council meeting at City Hall. “I can’t say how fortunate we are to live where we live. We can’t imagine going through what’s happening in other parts of the world.”

O’Connor said he learned of the effort to donate ambulances and fire trucks to Ukraine from Ipswich fire Chief Paul Parisi during a meeting of the Essex County Fire Chiefs Association. US Ambulances for Ukraine started last year in Illinois and has shipped more than 30 ambulances and one fire engine to the country, according to the organization. O’Connor reached out to the group and arranged to have the Beverly truck donated.

The group said it has received requests for the vehicles from all over Ukraine. The ambulances have been used by at least seven combat units, two fire departments and two hospitals, including in areas of major combat. One fire truck was donated to a fire station in Mykolaiv, a city in southern Ukraine that lost five trucks in an attack.

The truck being donated by Beverly was purchased in 2001 to serve as Engine 1 at the city’s headquarters fire station. It responded to roughly 1,800 calls per year during its 10 years in service, according to the city. For the last several years it has been used only as a reserve when one of the primary trucks went down. The truck has more than 106,000 miles and is valued at about $4,000.

O’Connor said it was replaced by a new truck last year.

The UA Resistance, a nonprofit that assists Ukraine, will facilitate transporting the truck to Baltimore for shipment overseas.

From there, US Ambulances for Ukraine will deliver the truck to a city in Ukraine.

Mayor Mike Cahill said in a press release that he is glad that Beverly is in a position to help the people of Ukraine.

“These trucks often sell at auction for less than $3,000 and are used for parts,” Cahill said. “We have an opportunity to provide a potentially life-saving piece of equipment to the people of Ukraine, and we are honored to do so.”

Staff Writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2535, by email at pleighton@salemnews.com, or on Twitter at @heardinbeverly.

Staff Writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2535, by email at pleighton@salemnews.com, or on Twitter at @heardinbeverly.

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