The department will spend just over $34,000 to purchase a 2016 Ford F-250 4 by 4 Pickup from Currie Motors in Frankfort. The truck costs $29,670 and the department will spend an additional $4,450 to equip it with emergency lights and signage.

The pick-up will replace a 2003 Ford Explorer the village plans to retire. The pick-up will be used in fire prevention activities, fire investigations and in firefighting activities.

Some of the fire prevention and investigation activities the department does includes conducting fire and evacuation drills at schools, inspecting buildings for life safety and fire hazards, and reviewing new construction or remodeling projects to ensure they are in compliance with the fire code.

"The vehicle will also give the department the ability to transport hoses and tools at fire scenes and training activities," said Fire Chief Donald Gay. "It's a vehicle we need so we can remain in service."

Using the pick-up to transport some hoses and tools means the department also can protect more expensive fire trucks from damage from these items, he said.

He said the 2003 Ford Explorer needs to be replaced. According to a memo to the Village Board, a village mechanic found it has rust beginning under the carpet and needs new spark plugs, wires and ball joints and other work. A front fender and bumper suffered damage in an accident in February 2008 and the transmission has been replaced.

A fire around 7 a.m. today has heavily damaged three ambulances and the Sullivan County Ambulance service headquarters and main hub on North Section Street, said Sullivan County Sheriff Clark Cottom.

"The cause of the fire is undetermined, but it appears to have started in the garage bay area. It is a three-bay building with living quarters attached to it," Cottom said. "It will take many months to recover from this loss. This is going to really stretch ambulance resources as this was the main hub for county ambulance service. We are very fortunate that this occurred at shift change and no staff members where injured."

Cottom said the fire was noticed by an emergency medical technician coming into the ambulance headquarters as part of a shift change. That workers noticed smoke coming out from the eaves of the garage. The building had two employees inside, one of whom had just awoken. Clark said the employee went inside and notified the employee who was awake and then both of those employees went in and woke up the second employee.

All were able to get out of the building unharmed, Cottom said.

A grant received by the the Redings Mill Fire Protection District will help first responders more quickly remove individuals from vehicles after an accident.

The fire district this month received new extrication equipment, using funds from a $25,516 grant it received from the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation.

The new apparatus replaces the district's 12-year-old equipment. The switch will be an improvement for the district because newer cars are made of stronger steel, which makes it more difficult to make the cuts necessary to free victims of traffic accident, Deputy Chief Michael White said.

The Redings Mill district covers multiple highways, as well as 10 miles of Interstate 49, White said. The district responds to about 100 traffic accidents each year and receives 10 to 20 extrication calls annually.