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.

Members of the Lubbock Fire Rescue dive team suited up Wednesday morning at the Pete Ragus Aquatic Center to try new equipment.

LFR spokesman Steve Holland said the purchase was made possible through pending funds from an approximately $40,000 U.S. Department of Homeland Security grant.

The dive team consists of 30 trained divers and five trained staff members, and certification is a yearlong process, said Holland.

Glass said part of that training includes black water dives, which are not performed as often.

The training, which may include use of sonar equipment, helps the team prepare for tasks such as assisting Lubbock police with crime scene investigations and evidence preservation, said Glass.

Holland said the team assisted police 15 times last year.

A fire at the Stockton fire station this morning likely caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage, according to Fire Chief Randy Baysinger. 

The fire, which was reported at 11 a.m., likely was caused by an electrical malfunction in one of the department's trailers, Baysinger said. No one was injured.

The trailer was completely destroyed, as was one front-line engine, according to Baysinger. Several other vehicles were substantially damaged, including a rescue truck and some pickup trucks. 

An official damage estimate won't be available until assessors evaluate the equipment, Baysinger said. 
Baysinger said the department still will be able to provide fire protection for the community. Officials from neighboring fire departments have offered the use of their equipment as well, he said. 

Fire departments from Stockton, Pearl City, Scales Mound, Elizabeth, Warren, Lena and Apple River assisted.