The Bell 412EPI seats 14 passengers, making it ideal for larger crew requirements needed for fire rescue missions and can lift up to 4,800 pounds, useful for heavy lifts and crew loads. It improves the Bell 412 platform with the Bell BasiX Pro™ fully integrated glass flight deck, providing critical flight information at-a-glance for greater situational awareness and safety. The Bell BasiX Pro™ system is specifically designed to meet the requirements of twin-engine helicopters and is optimized for IFR, Category A and JAR OPS3 compliant operations. The avionics suite also includes high resolution digital maps, electronic charts and approach plates, ADS-B transponder and optional HTAWS and XM satellite links. The Bell 412EPI also incorporates the power of Pratt and Whitney's PT6T-9 Twin Pac® engines, providing 15 percent more horsepower than the standard Bell 412. The Bell 412EPI features the BLR Strake and FastFin® system, which modifies the tailboom to optimize airflow and improve handling, safety and lift.

Unlike other helicopters that struggle to operate at great distances and in harsh fire conditions, the Bell 412EPI can travel back-and-forth five times to a fire 35 miles away without refueling in less than three hours and will deliver more than 1,600 gallons of water.

For more information, visit www.bellhelicopter.com.

The Hermitage Club's appeal of a decision by the Wilmington Development Review Board has been settled in Environmental Court, according to Hermitage officials. 

In a decision issued on September 2, the Wilmington Development Review Board granted Hermtiage Club's request for a conditional use permit to build a 93-unit condominium hotel and two duplex villas at their Haystack ski area. Of the nearly 40 conditions of the permit, one required the Hermitage to reach an agreement with the town "regarding development plans and location for a garage to house the ladder fire truck to be acquired. Funding to cover construction of a town garage to house the fire truck shall be provided by the applicant. The fire truck shall be acquired and construction of the fire truck parking garage shall be completed prior to the opening of the hotel."

The purchase of a ladder truck that can provide fire and safety protection at the multi-story hotel is also the subject of an existing agreement between the town and the Hermitage Club, which has agreed to provide $300,000 toward the cost of purchasing the apparatus. 

In an unusual move, the Hermitage Club asked the DRB to reconsider that and two other conditions. In regard to the condition to provide funding for a garage for the ladder truck, Hermitage Club officials argued that the waiver for the height of the hotel building under which the condition was opposed was not necessary under the zoning regulation. Although the board granted part of the request, they found the height waiver to be required under zoning, and declined to alter the condition to provide funding for a ladder truck garage. Hermitage officials appealed the decision to the Environmental Court. 

Under the settlement announced last week, the Hermitage Club will house the ladder truck at their new Haystack maintenance facility. Hermitage Club President Jim Barnes called the settlement a "logical and workable compromise" and "the best solution." 

But Wilmington Fire Chief Ken March isn't as enthusiastic about the solution. "I'm in no way happy with this decision," he said. "My concern is with life safety, and not just the people at the Hermitage."

March says locating the ladder truck on its own, near the edge of town, in a privately owned facility is less than ideal. Not only will it add significantly to response times, March says the agreement will cripple efforts to relocate his department outside the flood zone. In fact, at this week's selectboard meeting, members of the board's police and fire facility relocation committee said as much, that the agreement has taken the pressure off the town to build a new facility in the immediate future. 

Wilmington Town Manager Scott Murphy says the settlement gives the town flexibility. "When we build a new firehouse, we can move the ladder truck there," he said. "But the settlement allows the Hermitage Club to move forward with their plans. Ideally, we'd like (the ladder truck) in the village, but we just don't have the place to put it."

Many in the community have questioned the decision to purchase a ladder truck. Some have complained that, with the town facing costs of as much as $500,000 for their share of a new ladder truck, and another $5 million for a new facility, the Hermitage wasn't paying enough of the cost. But March says the decision to purchase a ladder truck wasn't based on the Hermitage Club's plans alone - and the decision wasn't made in a vacuum. 

The current ladder truck funding agreement isn't the same one negotiated with the previous Haystack developer. At his urging, the agreement was renegotiated. "At the time nobody knew what they were going to build, so nailing down a specific apparatus was difficult. So we hired an outside consulting firm to look at all the components, including what is happenin

Two people were injured Monday when a fire truck collided with a car in East Harlem.

Firefighters were responding to an unrelated call when the crash happened at 111th Street and Madison Avenue just before 3 p.m., officials told CBS2.

Two people were rushed to East Harlem Hospital Center with non-life-threatening injuries, officials said.

Video from the scene showed a fire truck with damage to one side, as well as a white Honda that was demolished in the crash.

For more information, view cbsnewyork.com

Stevens Point's Fire Department was given authorization to apply for a large equipment grant. The Finance Committee and then the city council approved going forward with an application for a grant from the Assistance to Firefighters Grants program, which is through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Mayor Mike Wiza says a grant of that size would be welcomed, and would help retire a vehicle that is expensive to maintain. "It's a 90-10 grant for a new fire truck. Those things run over $600,000 dollars. If we can get some of our tax money that's already gone on to the state and the federal government, and bring that back to Stevens Point, and we get 90% and we've got to pay 10%."

If the grant is awarded, the grant dollars would pay for most of a $600,000 fire engine and most of a $375,000 dollar fire simulation training trailer. Winning the grant would put Stevens Point taxpayers on the hook for $97,500 dollars. Wiza says that won't be a problem, since they've been budgeting to replace the old fire truck already.  "We have more than that down in our capital improvements budget for the next couple of years, I think it's 2017, maybe 2018. We've got about $350,000 dollars budgeted for a new fire truck, so we'd actually free up some more money if we're able to get that 90% grant."

For more information, view wsau.com