She said efforts are underway to scale back the cost to within budget so construction on the nearly eight-acre site at 4504 W. Johnson Road can start in the spring.

The goal is to move in by December.

Kevin Jerndt, an assistant fire chief at the department, said the current station at 305 W. Johnson Road just outside the LaPorte city limits is cramped from being designed in the 1950s for trucks, ladders and other equipment not as large as modern firefighting vehicles and equipment.

"It's done all it can for us and we're experiencing more and more mechanical issues with it all of the time," said Thompson. "It doesn't meet all of the safety requirements that the National Fire Protection Association has mandated in terms of vehicle safety features for some of our personnel."  

Thompson says the grant is very competitive, in that, they are competing against other fire stations nationwide, including Puerto Rico.

The $300,000 pumper truck was ordered a year ago and was finished and delivered to the department at the beginning of this year.  

A grant from the Rural Fire District covered $200,000 of the cost, with part of that coming from a special county bond. The remaining $100,000 was paid by the City of Milford.

That’s a lot of money, but Kral said the all-volunteer department deserves it

Authorities say they were using it as protection while first responders worked an accident on the westbound lanes of Expressway 83. An 18-wheeler then slammed into it.  

A firefighter in the truck was treated at an area hospital. He has since been released.

Officials say, however, that the truck won’t be back in service anytime soon.

“What we have is, we have vehicles that are in reserve whenever we have one of our units do down,” says McAllen Fire Department Chief Rafael Balderas. “We have a replacement to come in and take its place. That’s what we’ve done.”

Fourteen vehicles, including the department’s fire truck, were towed away from the scene.