Mitchell Associates Architects of Voorheesville worked with Niagara Engine Company #6, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the village and to come up with a design that meets 21st century health, safety and space needs, as well as the village's requirements for a historic district, according to fire department officials.

The department's current station (the former Jack Miller tractor repair shop) will be in service during the construction.

"The new station will actually be built behind the former tractor repair shop," Wolfe said. "Once the new station is built, we'll tear down the old tractor shop."

To ensure the continuity of emergency response services during construction, fire apparatus will also remain in a temporary pole barn built in 2013. The new station can store all equipment and gear under one roof.

They are startling figures: 40 percent of the city's fire department engines and ladder trucks are too old for safe front-line use, according to industry standards. And within a year, that fire hazard will significantly increase.

The I-Team uncovered one of the worst cases: a busy Chicago firehouse with equipment from 1985, 31 years old. Firefighters say this slows down response times and puts lives in danger.

Tower Ladder 34 rolls out of this Southeast Side fire house heading for action. But city records show this rig is 31 years old, actually obsolete.

"It's an antique, it's out of date, it's just not the equipment we should be using in a city like Chicago," said Andre Pennix, a retired CFD Battalion Chief.

Pennix and J. Paramore are retired Chicago Fire Department battalion chiefs who worked in this fire district and counted on Tower Ladder 34 to save lives in emergencies. They say this apparatus and its fixed ladder are crucial to help rescue people trapped on upper floors and prevent massive fires from spreading.

 

The Fire Services Museum of Victoria will open the doors of its Newport workshops from 10am to 4pm this Saturday, May 7, to exhibit dozens of lovingly-preserved fire appliances from the past 100 years.

Maintained by volunteers and retired firefighters, the workshops, opposite Williamstown Cemetery in Champion Rd, provide a unique insight into the evolving technology used by Victorian firefighters to keep the community safe.

In its first year, MFB had 59 permanent firefighters, 229 auxiliary firefighters, four steam fire engines, 25 horse drawn hose carts and 58 hose reels. There were only 33 horses and 48 stations in 1891, and the brigade attended 816 calls and 485 fires, of which 188 fires were classified as serious.

Since then it has grown to a workforce with more than 2200 employees, 47 fire stations and 147 fire and specialist appliances. In 2014-15 MFB attended 36,923 calls.