York (NE) has started the process toward building a new fire station, YorkNewsTimes.com reported Wednesday.

As part of the budget, city officials agreed to take $500,000 from the city’s reserves as the start of a “savings account” toward this large project, the report said.

City officials will start touring fire departments in other communities similar to York, where they too have a paid staff as well as volunteers. Some communities have built new stations in the past few years and those will be reviewed as a starting point when planning for the future, according to the report.

The current station was built in 1969. In April of 1968, a bond issue passed and a new fire/police complex was built for $188,000 at the corner of Eighth Street and Grant Avenue, the report said.

Lorain City Council opened up its checkbook and will fund nearly $1 million in improvements for its fire department, MorningJournal.com reported Wednesday.

The council voted unanimously at its September 6 meeting to fund a $292,400 roof repair at the Central Fire Station, located at Broadway and West 14th Street, and pay for a $633,000 Sutphen pumper truck, the report said.

The council voted 10-0 to approve both ordinances, according to the report.

A fire official conceded that the new truck is expensive, but is needed because the fire department is down two trucks and the pumper being replaced is 24 years old, the report said.

Lorain City Council opened up its checkbook and will fund nearly $1 million in improvements for its fire department, MorningJournal.com reported Wednesday.

The council voted unanimously at its September 6 meeting to fund a $292,400 roof repair at the Central Fire Station, located at Broadway and West 14th Street, and pay for a $633,000 Sutphen pumper truck, the report said.

The council voted 10-0 to approve both ordinances, according to the report.

A fire official conceded that the new truck is expensive, but is needed because the fire department is down two trucks and the pumper being replaced is 24 years old, the report said.

A busy Wichita bridge is about to close, which will force an estimated 16,000 drivers per day to find another route and a fire department to build a makeshift station, KSN.com reported.

The Amidon bridge improvement project is changing where fire crews do business in the area, the report said.

Taking a new approach, the Wichita Fire Department is constructing a makeshift station (Fire Station 23) near the corner of 13th and West in the parking lot of Dillons, according to the report.

For the next 18 months, the grocery store’s parking lot will be the temporary fire station’s home. The station is expected to open on October 3, the report said.

A fire official said it is a unique situation for the department, as the closure of the Amidon bridge meant response times would have doubled without a backup plan, the report said.