Illinois American Water is donating more than 75 thousand dollars to departments across the state, and Tolono is one of them. It's for one thousand dollars and the fire protection district says they need that money to replace the old equipment.

It costs around 30 to 40 thousand dollars to replace all of their equipment and they're going to have to do that in the next two years. So this grant was the first step to help them pay for it.

Pending weather and other possible setbacks, the new three-bay airport fire station has a completion date set for October 2018, according to Ron Burnett, job superintendent at Turn Key.

MAHG Architecture of Fort Smith designed the new fire station large enough to accommodate the airport’s new aircraft fire and rescue fire truck. The new truck and two other restored aircraft fire rescue trucks were acquired following a change in mission in 2014 for the local Arkansas Air National Guard to a remotely piloted aircraft unit.

The airport and the Arkansas Air National Guard unit formerly had a joint-use agreement that called for aircraft fire protection from the 188th Fighter Wing in exchange for use of 140 acres at the airport for Ebbing Air National Guard Base. A token $1 a year was part of the deal. A new joint-use agreement has been in the works.

Becky Pickard, lead emergency medical technician for the volunteer fire department, said fire engines come within about 2 inches of taking the eaves off the building, and when too much snow accumulates on the sidewalk outside the station, engines aren't able to get out. One other fire engine housed at the station has to make a multiple-point turn just to exit the building, and customizing the ambulance the department purchased a few years back added about $50,000 to the original $100,000 price tag.