Glen Ellyn officials are planning what they say is a long-overdue study of their two fire stations.

"It's time to start having these dialogues because I constantly hear it was ignored for 20 years," Village President Alex Demos said. " ... And now we're sitting on two aged buildings that maybe haven't had the maintenance that they need."

Roughly 60 volunteer firefighters, who are each paid $1 a year, work out of two stations owned by the village. While that model has yielded major savings, officials say, revenue from a fire service fee and special taxing area isn't enough to pay for long-term fixes to the buildings, last renovated in the 1990s.

The 1950s-era Station No. 1 downtown apparently would be a "tear down" and replaced because of space and height constraints, Demos said.

"We've got a real need to address fire station one probably within the next 10 years," Village Manager Mark Franz told the board.

But fire board officers stress their immediate priority is replacing aging apparatus such as a 27-year-old ladder truck (a new one is due to be bought later this year).

"We're not saying we wouldn't like another station, a new modified station," Chief Jim Bodony said. "We just want to make sure that the focus is on this (vehicle) fleet, which is something we use every day and we've adapted to these stations."

The fleet, valued at more than $4 million, was purchased by donations over the years, Bodony said. But those donors started to dry up, with only 20 percent of residents and businesses voluntarily contributing before the village decided to charge a fire service fee that now raises about $790,000 annually.

Adopted in December 2013, the fee was intended to help pay for operations and some equipment, officials say. The village could double the rate -- generating an estimated $1.6 million annually -- to help fund station improvements. A homeowner would then pay $15 a month. Businesses, depending on square footage, would pay $16-$80 a month.

This year, the special taxing area also is expected to generate $150,000 for the fire company.

On the south side of town, meanwhile, the 1970s-era Station No. 2 needs more storage and parking, Franz said. The Taft Avenue station also could house administrative offices that Bodony said currently occupy a "very small" portion of the downtown station.

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To help reduce response times for calls that have increased in the south part of the city, Broken Arrow has temporarily reopened a fire station that closed more than three years ago.

The station at 2900 S. Elm Place, which closed in 2012 after a station was built to replace it, will remain open until the construction of another new building, Fire Station No. 3, is completed. The city is in the process of acquiring land for Fire Station No. 3, which will be located in the southeast part of Broken Arrow.

In December 2012, all personnel and equipment from the old fire station on Elm moved to the new location at 2300 W. Norfolk Drive, now known as Fire Station No. 2.

Initially, the Elm Place station, which was built in the 1970s, will be staffed 24/7 by three firefighters with an Advanced Life Support Fire Engine. An ambulance will be added as staffing and other equipment becomes available.

In November, Broken Arrow voters approved two propositions that will redirect a majority of funds from the expiring countywide Vision 2025 sales tax. One of the measures will devote a 0.3 percent sales tax to public safety personnel and equipment, which would allow for 20 new firefighters and 20 new police officers.

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One man was trapped following a crash on Interstate 71 Wednesday morning involving a Cleveland fire truck.

It happened in the southbound lanes near West 150th Street just before noon.

"We had reports of a vehicle on the freeway driving sporadically on the off ramp," Cleveland Fire Department spokesperson Larry Gray said. That driver was having a medical issue.

Gray said a fire truck responded to the scene and was blocking the car when it was hit by a second vehicle.

"Apparently, this driver lost control or did not see that the ladder (truck) was actually stopped and crashed into the back of the ladder," Gray said.

The driver of the second car was trapped inside. He was removed and taken to MetroHealth Medical Center. Paramedics also transported the initial driver to the hospital.

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Three people were hurt when a fire truck crashed into the side of a Dairy Queen restaurant in Farmersville. The incident took place at around noon along East Audie Murphy Parkway.

According to Chief Michael Sullivan with the Farmersville Police Department, the fire truck was being delivered to the City of Greenville, located east of Farmersville, after being serviced in Denton. The vehicle was heading eastbound along the roadway when it somehow crossed over into the westbound lanes of traffic and ultimately crashed into the fast food restaurant.

Officials are still trying to determine what caused the truck to leave the road. It was being driven by a worker from the Denton service center.

The truck traveled through a front patio area, destroying much of the restaurant’s facade in the process. A vehicle in the Dairy Queen parking lot was also damaged. Work crews moved fast to begin clearing away the crash debris.

Three people were injured during this incident -- the person driving the fire truck, the customer inside of the damaged vehicle in the parking lot, and one Dairy Queen employee. Their exact injuries are not known, but all of the victims are expected to be okay.

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