Among the departments benefitting from the grants are Niles, Des Plaines, Glenview, Prospect Heights, Morton Grove, Northbrook, Glencoe, Highland Park, Evanston and  Deerfield-Bannockburn. Those departments are all part of the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) Division 3.  

Some departments are receiving upgraded radios. Most are receiving a significant software upgrade which fire chiefs from Niles and Glenview said will be a great help in locating firefighters in distress in a fire.

Niles Fire Chief Marty Feld said the new communications feature in advanced digital radios and software provided in the grant will allow fire scene commanders to “ping” the location of a missing or unresponsive firefighter, if those firefighters become unaccounted for at a fire scene. The grant is funding the purchase of four new Niles Fire Dept. radios and the software upgrade.

Johnson County Consolidated Fire District No. 2 is one of three fire agencies building new stations right now.   

Shawnee hopes to open a new station near 53rd Street and Woodsonia Drive in January. Kansas City broke ground on a station on Cookingham Drive in the northeast corner of the city this year.   

The district will relocate firefighters and trucks from a current station on Roe Avenue. Lopez said a study showed while the district serves eight municipalities, the majority of calls came from central Prairie Village, so building a station there would improve response times. 

Tisbury Fire Chief John Schilling said the new $429,000 engine combines components two truck manufacturers — KME and International — with customizations by Bulldog Fire Apparatus. Schilling called the engine a “true four-wheel-drive” as opposed to an all-wheel drive engine.  

Tisbury’s long dirt roads, like Herring Creek and Northern Pines, are tough to navigate in muddy or snowy conditions, Schilling said. The 4×4 engine will allow the fire department to  deliver 1,000 gallons of water to a fire scene.