Fire Chief Harry Scifres said once the additional bay is finished, the district will be able to buy a new pumper-tanker truck that can be used to fight fires.

The truck would replace a 44-year-old pumper that can hold only 600 gallons of water. Capacity of the new truck would be about 1,500 gallons, helpful when fighting fires in remote areas where water might not be readily available.

"We have a shortage of water down here," Scifres said. "We're about 15 miles from anybody."

"Any trucks you get now are a lot taller" than older trucks used by many rural fire departments, Scifres said.

That's why the district needs to build the extra bay onto the fire station. The new bay will not be appreciably longer than the current bays, but it will have significantly more clearance overhead so the district will be able to park the new truck inside.

Scifres said fire officials plan to begin shopping for the new pumper tanker in coming weeks. He said the district hopes to find a used vehicle in good condition at a reasonable price.

The firehouse expansion program will be financed with part of the proceeds from a $188,000 bond issue approved by district voters in April 2015.

Until new ambulances arrive, which could take months, the city has "borrowed" two units from the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District, which covers areas of Sacramento County outside the city, and will rely on a resource-sharing agreement with that agency to fill gaps in service caused by the lack of ambulances, said acting Sacramento Fire Department Chief Chad Augustin.

Since January 2014, firefighters have complained about the six diesel-powered ambulances manufactured by Ford that have had exhaust enter both the driving compartment and the rear passenger area at times, according to Fire Department spokesman Chris Harvey. The issue was discovered when firefighters complained about a diesel smell when riding in the units.

The smell has sent some firefighters - up to 10 in recent weeks - to emergency rooms to be evaluated for carbon monoxide poisoning, according to Sacramento Area Firefighters Local 522 union spokesman Roberto Padilla.

Prior to the recent rash of possible exposures, the department had "less than 10" firefighters report feeling sick from the smell from February 2014 through November 2016, Augustin said.