About two years ago, officials with Preston Volunteer Emergency Services realized the population of the area was growing so much that its services would need to expand to a new location.

The new PVES EMS station at 3763 F.M. 406 in Pottsboro wrapped up construction this month, and over the past week EMS personnel have been busy moving in. The new station is located just east of State Highway 289 on the north side of County Road 406 and is home to two ambulances, medics, EMTs and all of the equipment needed to save lives.

"We have two medics on duty 24/7," PVES President Mike Davis said. "... It's just going to be a better place for them to work."

He said the EMS station is currently operational, but some minor finalization work is still taking place. A grand opening is expected to take place in the coming weeks, but Davis wasn't sure when PVES would be ready to have that happen.

The station includes all new features for personnel, including new equipment and better amenities to make the medics on duty more comfortable during their shifts. Davis said PVES is also working on remodeling the original station, which will continue to serve as a fire station. It will soon feature a remodeled kitchen and community room.

PVES's emergency medical service department is responsible for a 96-square-mile area, Davis said, which includes Pottsboro, Flowing Wells and Mineral Creek. With that much ground to cover, it didn't make sense to have a single station off to the side of that area.

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A woman was taken to the hospital Tuesday after she was injured when she slid down a firefighter pole while touring a St. Paul fire station.

She sustained a non-life threatening injury, St. Paul Fire Marshal Steve Zaccard said Wednesday.

The fire department is investigating what happened, including whether an employee allowed the woman to use the pole, because "we don't usually let people do that," Zaccard said of visitors trying the poles.

The woman was among a group of adults touring Station 1 at West Seventh Street and Randolph Avenue. Such tours are "a very common thing," Zaccard said. "We welcome people into our stations and we enjoy meeting them."

Zaccard said he can't discuss the woman's injury because of a patient privacy law.

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Fire Chief Steve Russell said the new 2016 Spartan pumper with a six-man cab was financed mostly with a FEMA grant of $334,000.

The remainder came from the department's general budget. It replaces a truck that was 27 years old. He said the new one should provide service to the department for the next 20-25 years.

The Spartan was built in North Dakota and purchased from Anchor-Richie of Taylorsville. Russell said the grant process took about 15 months from application to delivery.

The truck can feed hoses or do water shuttles for quick dumps, with the ability to haul 1,000 gallons of water and pump at the rate of 1,250 gallons per minute.

Level Cross has three large trucks including two engines, a rescue squad truck, a pickup truck and a Tahoe.

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During its annual Safety Forum in Scottsdale, Arizona, last month, the Fire Department Safety Officers Association (FDSOA) announced the Phoenix (AZ) Fire Department is an Official Regional Training and Certification Center for Incident Safety Officers within the Phoenix Regional Automatic Aid System.

Richard Maddox, Chairman, FDSOA, presented the Certificate of Approval to Brian Parks, safety officer for Phoenix Fire Department. [photo attached]  Maddox stated, “This award recognizes that Phoenix Fire Department has been certifying 50 individuals per year and plans to continue doing similar work in the future.”

This year was the first time the FDSOA Annual Safety Forum and the 28^th Annual Apparatus Specification and Maintenance Symposium were held concurrently and in Scottsdale. Next year, both the forum and the symposium will be held in Orlando, January 16-20, 2017.

“The first annual combined event was a great success,” said Maddox. “We had an extremely good turnout for both the Apparatus Symposium and the Safety Forum. The vendors were very enthusiastic about the quality of the attendees and the quality of time that they got to spend with them.”

This year, the IAFC’s Safety Health & Survival Section (IAFC SHS) partnered with the FDSOA to host the 2016 Safety Forum. After a meeting with both boards, the organizations agreed they will continue to work together to bring safety education to as many fire chiefs and safety officers across North America.

For more information regarding the FDSOA Safety Forum, contact: Rich Marinucci, Executive Director, Ph: 248.880.1864 or visit: www.fdsoa.org.