The Oakland Volunteer Fire Department responded to a structure fire during the late hours of March 15, marking the final call for the department’s primary engine, ER43, wvnews.com reported.

It’s only fitting that the department’s primary engine, ER43, run a commercial structure fire as its final call to service for the town of Oakland and its surrounding community, a fire official said, according to the report.

The nearly-20-year-old fire engine was placed out of service for the final time once it returned to station early Thursday morning, the report said.

A fire official reported that the ER43 has been sold to Command Fire Apparatus, which is a used fire truck broker.

The new (and nearly $1 million) ER43 is in its final assembly stages at the factory, the report said. Final inspections are scheduled for next week.

PRESS RELEASE

Out with the old, in with the new, according to a March 11 Facebook post by Hallowell Fire Department. Engine 1 has served the department well since 1987. It was purchased for $108,000. She made her last run last night to a reported structure fire. Nothing found. Engine 4 her replacement is a 2023 Pierce Saber. It’s cost was $600,000. It has an expected service life of 25 years.

PRESS RELEASE

03/17/23 – The Old Lycoming Township Fire Company has been informed that we will be the recipient of a Local Share Account (LSA) grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to remodel and expand our 33-year-old fire station located at 1600 Dewey Avenue in Old Lycoming Township.

Thanks to the leadership of Rep. Joseph Hamm, the sponsorship of the Old Lycoming Township Supervisors and the guidance of Jason Fitzgerald, we are fortunate to have been awarded this grant in the amount of $1 million to help finance this major community project.

Besides housing the fire company, the station also houses Engine 14-1 (the engine staffed by the Williamsport Bureau of Fire and serving both communities), and MICU 91 (Mobile Intensive Care Unit staffed by Susquehanna Regional EMS and serving at least 10 communities along the Lycoming Creek Valley).

The purpose of this project is to expand our college “live-in” program and move it into the station. Update and modernize the quarters for Engine 14-1 and MICU 91. And provide a safer, welcoming environment for our volunteer staff.

The real work now begins, as we must move aggressively forward to make the building project a reality.

To all those inside and outside the company that have worked so many hours over the last four years to make this day a reality, thank you for all you have done to move us into the future.

Firefighters and Medina Village Board members gave the community tours of the firehouse recently, showing tight quarters, eroding floors, cracking walls and other deficiencies, orleanshub.com reported.

The board is looking to put an addition on the fire house that can better accommodate the larger fire trucks, the report said. The village also needs to replace the 27-year-old ladder truck, said a city official, according to the report.

The board expects to move forward soon with a plan for an addition on the fire house that would be approximately 62 feet, 8 inches by 88 feet, 8 inches, the report said. That addition, plus repairs to the existing fire house, would be about $4.5 million, according to a report from the Barton & Loguidice firm, the report said.