In addition the unique paint job, the West Orange Fire Department’s truck has an improved pump, a water tank that can hold 1,000 gallons of water and can help transport five firefighters to a scene, 12newsnow.com reported.

The Roanoke Rapids Fire Department has been awarded a $476,000 Assistance to Firefighters grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, a city official informed the council Tuesday night, RRSpin.com reported.

Earlier this year the city council approved part of its American Rescue Plan funds to purchase a fire engine for the department which, along with the FEMA grant, will bring the city two fire engines, the report said.

With the FEMA grant the city’s local match will be just over $130,000 but details will be determined as the city and fire department move forward with the process, according to the report.

The truck which has been ordered through ARPA funds is a 2024 E-One Typhoon pumper and will replace engine 141. The truck the department will get through the FEMA grant will be similar.

Scott County Board of Supervisors recently bought five new fire trucks for use in three of the county’s volunteer fire departments, SCTOnline.net reported.

The trucks will be provided to Homewood VFD, Lake VFD and North Central VFD (Harperville/Hillsboro/Midway), the report said.

All 2022 models, the trucks were purchased for $1,998,568 with funding coming from a matching grant of $390,000 from the Mississippi Rural Fire Truck Acquisition Assistance Program. The remaining balance was funded through local ad valorem on an MDA capital improvement loan, the report said.

Ashland (OH) City Council on Tuesday agreed to purchase a new, $1.5 million ladder truck to replace the fire division’s existing apparatus that has lasted more than 25 years, AshlandSource.com reported.

A city official said the 100-foot ladder truck currently used is a 1996 model that, most recently, struggled to extend the ladder at an event at Brookside Golf Course, the report said.

The fire division has spent around $150,000 on repairs to the truck over the last several years. And since the truck is the only 100-foot ladder owned by the fire division, it is out of commission when it gets serviced, the report said.

The city contracts with Mansfield and Wooster fire departments for those times when the ladder truck is out of service, according to the report.

Most of the purchase will be financed, drawing on the city’s fire equipment fund. But $500,000 worth will be financed with the city’s allocation of American Rescue Plan dollars, the report said. The city received $2.1 million in the federal stimulus money passed to curb the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ladder truck needs to be bought now because of the wait time associated with the transaction. The dealer has stated there are more than 400 trucks ahead of Ashland’s and that it could take up to two years to receive it, according to the report.