"Our centrally located station is going to be a hindrance in the future because of the lack of the ability to reach out to the nether regions," said Toby Dougherty.

Fire chief Gary Brown agreed with Dougherty, saying the department's response time is nine minutes, and it could get harder for crews to meet that when the city is growing away from the station.

The chief said he also looks forward to having more space with a new station.

"The fire department has accumulated more equipment and apparatus over the years, and has added to this facility, but this facility is cramped," said Brown. "When a fire station's too cramped, there are inefficiencies and there are safety concerns."

Residents near the potential fire station tell KSN they have concerns about the noise it might bring. However, residents just a block away don't seem to mind.

Construction of the new fire hall was delayed while village officials grappled with the Federal Emergency Management Agency over the level of funding for the replacement structure.

Village officials had hoped to have the bare-bones building done by the end of December, but some utility issues slowed things down, according to Mayor Malcolm Coles.

The building should be ready for occupancy next month, Coles said.

"We're looking hopefully at the middle of February to move the fire department and state police (substation). What we were shooting for with FEMA was to be significantly complete by December, which we basically were," he said. "There was a holdup on getting NYSEG to get poles set and power to the building. Then, natural gas was a holdup. Guys have been working off generators and portable heaters. I want to say we're on track to hopefully, if not move all the fire department up there, to at least start getting basic stuff moved."

The fire department still occupies half of the existing building on Front Street. The structure sits near the confluence of Bentley Creek and the Chemung River, and is also near Norfolk Southern railroad tracks.

The new truck replaces a 1995 pumper, which was traded in to First Choice Fire Apparatus towards the cost of the new truck. Rob Sax, chairman of the township’s Board of Commissioners, said he hopes this new vehicle will last the township 20 years.

Sax said the township took out a $400,000 loan to purchase the new vehicle for the department. The township has also applied for a Local Share Account (gaming) grant to help defray the cost.

Ritsick and several other firefighters agreed to show off their newly acquired equipment one recent morning.

Plains Township Fire Department responds to approximately 1,500 calls a year, and officials estimate the new pumper truck will respond to about 90 percent of them. It took two after the truck was delivered from the factory to put it into service because the 16 full-time and six part-time crew members had to mount equipment and train on the vehicle.

Ritsick said members of the department knew for three years they were going to need a new truck, and they set up a commission whose members worked with the commissioners for the past year to design the truck to the township's needs.

The township also bought the department some new tools, including a battery-powered Jaws of Life set -- a device used to free drivers from their vehicles after crashes -- and a new hose.