Fire personnel have moved back in from their temporary quarters, and the station has been rebuilt from the ground up with larger bays to fit modern apparatus with better ventilation, an equipment decontamination room, locker room and restroom accommodations for male and female firefighters, adequate living and office space for personnel and ADA compliance among other features.

"Our firefighters are very excited to be in the new fire station," Fire Chief Bill Hawley said. "The new station is significantly larger than the old facility and has a number of features that were not a part of the old building. The new facility will allow our firefighters to better serve the community."

Firefighters had been working from temporary headquarters across the street at Church of Christ on Exchange Parkway since June while crews demolished Allen's oldest fire station, built in 1981. The city and church had a lease agreement that allowed firefighters temporary housing and a temporary fire apparatus structure on the church's grounds for $1,750 per month.

Judging by the project's outcome, the health and well-being of fire personnel was taken into account when designing the station. Hawley said there was an emphasis on providing a lot of natural light as well as a balance of private and communal space for firefighters. To combat firefighters' exposure to germs and chemical contaminants while on emergency calls, polished concrete floors were built to reduce the chance of germs spreading, while the air handling system continuously cleans the air.

According to Commerce FD Captain Joe Pretre, the grant used to be only used for training textbooks and related materials, but in recent years was changed to include other items as well. Pretre said that the grant was applied for last year. This grant is the second one given to the fire department this year, with Commerce FD receiving an $8,400 grant in April for bunker gear.

There are certain criteria that have to be met to be eligible, and Commerce FD meets the criteria due to having less than 20 full time workers.

The grant is known as a "100 percent grant," meaning that the Forest Service will reimburse the fire department completely for their purchase up to $5,000. Pretre said that the plan is to use the grant to purchase a Keiser force sled and a drag dummy.

"The purchase is being undertaken to address the issue of insufficient firefighting units, mainly pumpers, which has been impeding the brigade's capacity to effectively carry out its operations," a document tabled in Parliament said.

A 2014 performance audit of the Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB), which was undertaken by the Auditor General's Department, indicates that 36 per cent of the fleet of emergency vehicles were out of service.

At May 2014, brigade's fleet of emergency vehicles, including pumpers, water tankers and fireboats, stood at 75, of which 31 were out of service, some for periods of up to six years. Consequently, the JFB was unable to deploy a pumper to four fire stations.

According to a spokesperson with Georgia State Patrol, Martin McBride, of Buchanan, was driving northbound on U.S. Highway 27 when McBride allegedly hit the fire truck, which was traveling eastbound on Highway 120.

The fire truck had its lights and sirens activated while crossing U.S. Highway 27, according to authorities.