Edwardsburg Ambulance Service mainly serves Ontwa Township, including the village of Edwardsburg.

Lease payments will be about $2,500 per month, with a $1 buyout at the conclusion of the lease. The vehicle will end up costing EAS $109,830. The first payment will be due at the time of signing the contract, which could occur as early as next week, Closson said.

The new ambulance will be a backup for the primary emergency transfer vehicle, and will be the main vehicle used for nonemergency patient transports, Closson explained. EAS also has an older vehicle, which is used at special events, such as local football games, and also as a secondary backup to the main emergency ambulance.

Ambulance repairs have caused some headaches for EAS over the summer, including the engine blowout Aug. 16 that occurred after the completion of a nonemergency patient transfer. The engine repair reportedly would have cost in excess of $10,000, which is more than the entire vehicle was worth.

Prior to the blowout, another EAS vehicle had air-conditioner problems that have since been addressed. By the end of August, the service had overrun its truck repair annual budget by about $6,000.

Meanwhile, EAS is 11 percent off of its income goal for this fiscal year — making $110,957.02 between April and August, with a goal of earning $360,000 between April and March, according to EAS board’s vice chair, Pat Makielski. These figures apply to money made from services, not proceeds from millages.

The $30,000 spreader, cutter and ram tools will be used to bend and cut metal of vehicles to rescue entrapped motorists and passengers during vehicle accidents or structure fires.

Fire Chief Chad Evans said firefighters waited about six weeks from the time tools were ordered until delivery.

"This is the first time Manor has had rescue tools," Chief Evans said. "It'll benefit us drastically."

Currently, volunteer firefighters are aided by Kittanning Township volunteer firefighters for rescue, and have been for more than 24 years - a department that is increasingly sought after.

Assistant Fire Chief Matt Klingensmith said the tools will help rescuers get patients in a trauma center within an hour.

Chief Evans explained the tools can cut to 10,000 PSI and allow emergency responders to cut metal in newer, stronger vehicles.

Steve Sheorn is on the Board of Commissioners for Lugoff Fire and Rescue. He knows first hand how hard cancer is to fight. He was diagnosed with Leukemia back in 2011. Last year, the cancer came back. He is now in remission. He tells News 19, "The fact that I've got it. I can't say for sure that's what caused it, but I think it had a lot to do with it." The 'it" he is referring to, is his 30 year firefighting career. He says, "Back when I first started in the fire service, which was the early 70's, we didn't even have air packs."

Lugoff Fire Chief, Dennis Ray wrote the grant for the extractor and a dryer for turnout gear, special chemicals, and training. He tells News 19, "Knowing that environment, knowing that's the profession that we're in, knowing we have those exposures, to provide as much protection to our firefighters as we can. This is absolutely key; cleaning properly decontaminating properly, after the firefighter comes out of that environment, put it back on the firefighter as fast as possible."

During a fire, firefighters are exposed to all kinds of chemicals that have been directly linked to certain types of cancers. Chief Ray says, "One of the biggest things we face today isn't just the fire, isn't the dangerous situations, protecting people. Its protecting ourselves, and specifically to the exposure to carcinogens."

This extractor is not just any washing machine. It is especially made for fire gear and even hoses. The particular one that Lugoff purchased was from a company in West Columbia. But in addition to the machine, Chief Ray says the firemen had to be trained on the proper care of their gear. He says, "You have an outer liner and there is an inner liner. They both have to be washed separately. They both have to be washed at their own programming cycles."