Lancaster County commissioners presented a $500,000 check to the Lancaster Township Fire Department on Tuesday, Fox43.com reported. The money will go toward building a new fire station on Millersville Pike, a project decades in the making.

The new firehouse will replace the two fire stations on each side of the township, the report said. 

The project was delayed numerous times due to the pandemic and ongoing inflation, the report said. Funds from American Rescue Plan saved the project.

Construction on the new firehouse will begin on October 29 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2023, according to the report.

As part of a tradition dating back to the 19th century, members of the Rio Rico Fire District held a “push-in” ceremony recently for RRFD’s newest engine, NogalesInternational.com reported.

RRFD’s new Engine 520 was pushed into Station No. 3 at 822 Pendleton Drive during the district board meeting September 28.

Engine 520 is a combination Type I/Type III Engine, meaning it can respond to wildland fires, structure fires and just about any other fire, the report said. While it will be housed at Station No. 3, it will also deploy to wildfires when requested by state or federal officials, according to the report.

Some of the engine’s features include a 2022 Freightliner M2 Business Class chassis, all-wheel drive, 360-degree camera system, off-road lighting, Bluetooth headsets with half-mile range, a 1,250 gallons-per-minute pump for water and foam, a front-mounted turret controlled from inside the cab and a thermal imaging turret-mounted camera, the report said.

The new engine cost $480,000, plus another $40,000 for equipment, the report said.

Bethel Township Fire Department’s Rescue 51 is a welcome addition to the emergency fleet, SpringfieldNewsSun.com reported. It combines the capabilities of two vehicles into one “Fire-Rescue” truck.

The Rosenbaur Avenger Rescue 51 carries 1,000 gallons of water and 40 gallons of foam and has the basic equipment for firefighting, the report said. It also has all the equipment of a rescue truck like rope, water, and vehicle extraction equipment. It can also handle Hazmat situations.

The truck cost $700,000; additional equipment was purchased for $30,000, the report said.

Missoula County will serve as a test lab for a decontamination system intended to rid wildland firefighting equipment of invasive aquatic species, including mud snails and zebra mussels, MissoulaCurrent.com reported.

The state has taken steps in recent years to prevent such species from being transported from one body of water to another with inspection stations set at key transportation routes around the country, the report said.

But some firefighting equipment can also pose a risk and like watercraft, the valves and hoses are often transported around the state and beyond, the report said.

To prevent the transport of aquatic invasive species, Missoula County on Tuesday approved a service agreement with Clean Wake LLC. The company, based in Salt Lake City, specializes in watercraft decontamination equipment, according to the report.

Clean Wake was founded roughly four years ago to stop the spread of aquatic invasive species, primarily in Lake Mead. The agreement with the county charges the company to develop a prototype that can work on wildland fire equipment, the report said.