The purchase was mentioned in a proposed VND11.5 trillion (US$514.4 million) plan submitted by the city’s firefighting and rescue unit to establish aims for the period from now until 2025 and set orientations through 2030.

The total number of firefighting officers in Hanoi is anticipated to be 6,500 by 2030 and 58 more firefighting locations will be established on areas covering a total of 285,000 square meters, according to the plan.

During the final phase of the plan, from 2026 to 2030, the firefighting unit will focus on purchasing new and modern equipment, devices, and vehicles, including the two aircraft, in order to ensure the effectiveness of its firefighting and rescue squad.

The department held an unveiling ceremony Thursday for Engine 339, a 2008 OES Type 1 Engine that when not needed for a state emergency operation, will be used locally and house at Turlock Fire Department Station 2 at 791 S. Walnut Road.

California’s OES operates on a system that embeds equipment with local fire departments so that strike teams can be mobilized quickly to respond to a variety of emergencies, including large-scale wildland and urban fires, earthquakes, tsunamis, hazardous materials spills, and other disasters. In accepting one of the OES engines, the Turlock Fire Department agrees to send a four-member strike team to any emergency that the OES deems in need of mutual aid.

It was early that morning and his father, Dave, then a second lieutenant with the village's volunteer fire department, had already left for the scene. So had the assistant chief, who lived across the street.

All these years he could never get the image of that towering fire truck in front of the Ben Franklin out of his mind.

Tracking down the truck became something like an obsession for Tobin. He heard it had been sold to downstate Salem, Illinois, in 1981.

In 2003 he stopped in Salem overnight while driving home from a convention. But by then Salem had sold the truck to Pierceton, Indiana. So he paid a visit.

McClanahan says it’s also easier to fight a fire in Blount County today than it was, say, 40 years ago, for the simple reason that the county has more in the way of physical and financial resources.

When he began in 1977, McClanahan says there were only 10 fire hydrants in non-incorporated regions of Blount County. Now, as the population has grown, the tax base has increased, and local water utilities have expanded their infrastructure, there are literally hundreds of hydrants available for BCFD firefighters when they head out on a call.

As to firefighting equipment, McClanahan shakes his head when he considers the changes that have taken place during his own lifetime. He still remembers a time, some decades back, when fire trucks were essentially do-it-yourself propositions. There were no corporate manufacturers making trucks specifically for the needs of firefighters.