Investigators say the collision happened at 12:15 p.m. Friday as the fire truck was responding to a report of the smell of smoke.

According to investigators, the fire truck drove through a green light at Rhode Island Avenue and 12th Street, NE, when a gold car coming through intersection was t-boned by the fire truck.

Fire officials say the driver of the gold vehicle was trapped in the collision and then extricated. He was taken to the hospital where he passed away. The pregnant victim was taken to hospital in critical condition. A firefighter also suffered minor injuries.

Typically, old Aliquippa equipment and fire apparatus are stripped of elements useful to the department and scrapped. That, officials assumed, would be the fate of the 26-year-old truck.

Plans changed when members of the department learned about a New Jersey-based group that refurbishes old fire equipment and donates it to departments in the Dominican Republic.

It seemed like a good idea to help others in need, so Foringer and his fellow firefighters began making plans.

He reached out to Mayor Dwan Walker and eventually to the city council. Members approved Foringer’s motion, giving the all clear for the department to donate the truck from the city as a whole.

The new system will receive digital information from dispatch, displaying it on screens throughout the building along with an automated tone.

"It's an upgrade that has taken hold across the country, this is the latest and the greatest,” McCaw said.

In days past, each station would hear every call in their room and would determine if it was their jurisdiction. This system would be more specific, giving the first responders more sleep.

That's why South Bend's fire department is building two new stations.

They found out the old and undersized Station 9 is located too far east to fully serve the River Park neighborhood.

"The fire department has been actively trying to relocate that station, really since the 90s,” said Skwarcan.

That new station will add an ambulance and a boat for faster response times. It's also going to be a lot safer for first responders.

"It will have a pull-through bay, so you don't have the danger of backing into the station on Mishawaka avenue, which is a really busy street."

Right now future station 9 is just an empty lot. Skwarcan says it won't be finished until 2019.

But station 4 is much closer to move-in ready. Possibly by mid-April, according to Skwarcan.

That new station is on Olive Street right next door to the current firehouse.

Skwarcan says it'll be around 8,000 square feet. Enough space to house two rigs.