Rescue 1—Monmouth County (NJ) Sheriff, heavy-duty rescue. Spartan Metro Star X cab and chassis; Cummins ISC 380-hp engine; 18-foot, nine-inch walk around rescue body.

The Gwinnett Board of Commissioners approved two contracts Nov. 3 to benefit the Department of Fire and Emergency Services. The first contract for $488,730 will provide medical supplies through Nov. 3 of next year. The second contract was awarded to low bidder GT Distributors of Georgia, Inc. in the amount of $110,821 for the purchase of protective helmets.

In addition, commissioners voted to accept the Georgia Trauma Care Network Commission Grant to be administered by the Georgia Association of Emergency Medical Services in the amount of $102,777. The grant can be used for the reimbursement of any trauma related equipment and will be used to fund the purchase of protective helmets. The grant is 100 percent funded by the Georgia Trauma Care Network Commission with no matching requirements.

For more information, view www.ajc.com

The city of Boynton Beach closed a fire station to test its air quality and make repairs to the ventilation system.

This comes just before the city received two worker's compensation claims from firefighters stationed at the firehouse. The claims say firefighters showed higher sensitivity to pneumonitis, usually caused by breathing in allergens.

Tim McPherson, the city's director of human resources and risk management, says it's too soon to link the health issues from the worker's compensation claims to the air quality fixes at the station.

"Everything is concerning, they are our employees, our resource, we take everything seriously every time something comes forward," McPherson says.

He explains firefighters noticed a smell in one of the women's restrooms at fire station 3, located on Congress Avenue and Miner Road, in October.

Inspectors found five dead mice in the air ducts. The city brought in two outside firms to test the ventilation system and air quality. The test results gave the city some recommendations which it implemented.

"We've replaced ceiling tile in the whole station. We replaced drywall in areas that were compromised. We cleaned the vents, even though the vent system was relatively new," McPherson says. He points out most of the problems were in a women's restroom and the laundry room. 

A follow-up test was completed last week and the city expects the results to come back Monday. At that point, it hopes to reopen station 3.

The renovations and tests will cost between $7,000 and $10,000, according to McPherson.

The University of Arkansas amended the Fayetteville Fire Department today to discuss possible locations for a new station.

The fire department said they want to replace an old station off of garland avenue.

They are meeting with the university to figure out where response times are more than six minutes. They're considering building a new station to replace the older one.

The fire chief says it is too early to tell how much it will cost or how the project will be funded.

The university does not want to raise student fees and that there a lot of factors to consider.

The next step is to go over response times in the area for each location and meet again next month.