The fire department welcomed their clean-cab concept engine into service Monday, outfitted with simple changes inside that will make all the difference. 

"We've got a lot of smooth, non-porous surfaces like vinyl seating, and solid surfaces that are much easier to clean than the materials we had in the past," said Chief Hartzog. "There's the HEPA filtration system that captures all the harmful smoke."   

The truck, which cost over $590,000, includes updates to the outside as well. Outside, it has an exhaust pipe that burns off the carcinogens before they exit the system.

"This is important because during cold starts, that's where we're around the apparatus and susceptible to the exhaust coming out," added Chief Hartzog. "It's very important that we're protecting the driver inside the truck, or firefighters who are putting tools back in place while the engine is idling." 

The granddaughter of the only Dalton firefighter to die in the line of duty said she knew he was happy with the way he went.

"He stepped off the firetruck, and he was happy because he died with his boots on," said Barbara Wilson, 80, of her grandfather Arthur "Pop" Krum. "He loved being a fireman."

Krum, who was 70 when he had a heart attack after fighting a High Street fire in 1949, was honored Sunday morning during the dedication of a new rescue pumper in his name.

And another firefighter, Dennis Tinker, was given a medal of valor for rescuing a woman in her sinking car after she crashed it into the Housatonic River last month.

A Palo Alto Fire Department engine suffered major damage in an early fatal collision on Highway 101 Sunday morning. A crew attached to Engine 64 was designated as the “safety support vehicle,” a practice where certain engines are positioned on the scene of incidents as a roadblock to oncoming traffic.

The Engine 64 crew was tending to a solo vehicle crash that occurred on Highway 101 southbound, just before Embarcadero Road at 3:30 a.m. At 4:30 a.m., the driver of a white box truck carrying a load of baked goods struck the fire engine on the left rear portion of vehicle.

The fully loaded engine, which weighed 30,000 pounds with its equipment and 500 gallons of water, spun counterclockwise upon impact.