The Grayling Fire Department has a new vehicle to replace an aging part of its fleet – a 2011 Spartan ladder truck capable of reaching heights of 100 feet – and the vehicle recently began its service to the community, CrawfordCountyAvalanche.com reported.

Earlier this year, the Grayling Charter Township Board of Trustees approved a proposal to purchase a replacement for the fire department’s existing ladder truck, a vehicle that was “in rough shape” and inadequate for some of the larger structures in the community, including the hospital, township officials said.

Fire department and township officials said replacement parts were difficult to find for the 18-year-old vehicle, and it was getting too costly to make repairs, the report said.

The township board in May approved up to $500,000 (mostly American Rescue Plan Act money) for the purchase of a replacement. The city of Grayling also contributed money, township officials said.

A new ladder truck would have cost approximately $2 million, the report said.

Langford Fire Rescue is set to get a shiny demo fire truck after council approved the purchase during its Monday meeting, GoldstreamGazette.com reported.

The new truck is set to cost $1.15 million, much less than the estimated $2.5 million it would cost to custom build a truck to meet the department’s needs, the report said. The custom truck would also take more than three years to assemble, according to a staff report.

The fire department was able to work down the cost from an initial estimate of $1.9 million by trading in its current truck, which was bought in 1998 and is set to exceed its 25-year lifespan next year, as recommended in the Fleet Replacement Plan and Fire Underwriter’s Survey, the report said.

The new truck, which features a 107-foot ladder, was built as a 2018 model and sent to Asia as a demonstration vehicle, but never used on active duty, according to a Langford fire official. 

The city broke ground Tuesday on its newest fire station, Station 9, located at the Denton Enterprise Airport, DentonRC.com reported. The approximately $12 million project will allow the Denton Fire Department to better serve the airport and other areas west of Interstate 35.

When it came to selecting a location for the next station, the fire department followed the data. It found the existing western stations — Stations 3, 5 and 7 — couldn’t respond to the airport fast enough, the report said.

The goal is to have the fire station completed by March 2024. 

New Haven (CT) Board of Alders moved ahead recently with a proposal to use $4.5 million in federal pandemic-relief aid in part to buy new non-electric police SUVs and fire trucks, NewHavenIndependent.org reported.

Specifically, the Elicker Administration officials have submitted a request to the alders to use federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to purchase eight police SUVs for $400,000 as well as two fire engines and one fire truck for $3.7 million, the report said. 

The committee alders favorably recommended the $4.5 million ARPA spending plan, which now heads to the full Board of Alders for further debate and a final vote, the report said.

The question was raised about investing in electric vehicles instead of gas-powered engines. A fire official countered that the electric vehicle technology is new and that New Haven shouldn’t be the test place for it, the report said.

A fire official told the committee that there’s a national backlog on fire equipment due to pandemic-related supply chain issues, and that New Haven should purchase new vehicles as soon as possible, according to the report. The fire department is requesting $850,000 for each of two fire engines as well as $2 million for a fire truck with an aerial ladder, according to the report.