The city of Ketchum is spending more than $700,000 on a new fire engine, MTExpress.com reported. But the new vehicle isn’t expected to arrive until sometime in early 2025.

The city council approved the expenditure in a vote Monday night, the report said.

A fire official told the council that the city’s Engine 1 has passed the typical lifespan of an engine on front-line service. The wait for a machine is between 27-30 months, a fire official said, so it was in the best interest of the city to act quickly, according to the report.

The current fire engine was bought in 2004 and has been on front-line service, according to the city’s presentation, for 18 years. During that time, the city has not had a reserve engine.

The engine is in good condition, but maintenance needs have been increasing, according to the fire official.

The Kuna Rural Fire District is asking for a new station and six permanent firefighters to keep up with increased demand, KTVB.com reported.

The additions will be up for vote in November’s general election through a levy increase and a bond, the report said.

The fire district’s population, which covers some areas outside of Kuna, is projected to increase 74% in the next 10 years, according to the report.

Kuna Fire has one fire station and 15 firefighters, five per shift. The station serves 34,000 residents and 110 square miles. Recommendations say that communities should have one fire station for every 10,000 people, the report said.

With the booming population, emergency call volumes to the Kuna Rural Fire District have increased 72% in the past decade, the report said. The station sees about 2,000 emergency calls per year. Almost a quarter of those calls are overlapping, where multiple emergency calls come in at the same time. 

Nine of Dallas Fire-Rescue’s 23 frontline fire trucks have mechanical issues and are out of service. All of the department’s backup trucks are in use, leaving it two short of being fully operational, DallasObserver.com reported.

It could take two weeks to bring the trucks back into service, which is why the city is working on an emergency rental agreement to cover the shortage, a fire official said, according to the report. These rented trucks could be available as early as this week.

Another fire official said the shortage could translate into more calls for specific fire stations and spread department resources even thinner, the report said.

The price the city of Athens (OH) pays for the land to build a new fire station on may be significantly less than an initial estimate, WOUB.org reported.

The 10.6 acre lot along Stimson Avenue just past the roundabout appraised for about $202,000, a city official told the city council at its meeting Monday, the report said.

A preliminary appraisal had put the value at $350,000 to $550,000, but that did not factor in the restrictions Ohio University, which owns the land, is placing on its use after the sale, according to the report.

The university’s board of trustees agreed to sell the property to the city with the following conditions: the city can develop up to three acres; about six acres must be maintained as green space; and the university can lease back up to one acre at a cost of $1 per year to build a police station if it desires to at some point, the report said.

A city official said these restrictions of the property’s use decreased its value. The appraisal must be reviewed before the price is final, the report said.