Much of Virginia’s Fairfax County has a decidedly urban feel, but there are still rural pockets where no infrastructure exists to support fire hydrants.

That left firefighters often deploying tankers to make up for the shortage of water when they initially responded to a scene.

A more elegant solution, however, was the installation of dry hydrants – an underground piping system that connects to a local water source, such as a pond, that can feed firefighting operations when a truck hooks up to it to provide the pump.

Master Technician Pete Kosenko and the Fairfax Fire Department recently finished installing four dry hydrants in the county’s Clifton neighborhood. The project took a lot of planning. Water sources had to be identified, private landowners had to agree to participate and funds had to be acquired.

With funding from the Virginia Department of Fire Programs and the Virginia Forestry Department the project got underway back in 2018. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a pause in the action, but the department recently finished the installation of its third dry hydrant, increasing the level of protection to the neighborhood.

Read more about the project here.

KME—Citizens Fire Company #1, Weatherly, PA, PRO pumper. Panther MFD cab and chassis; Cummins L9 450-hp engine; Waterous CSX 1,500-gpm pump; 750-gallon polypropylene water tank; FRC backup camera; Harrison 10-kW generator; TFT Monsoon RC electric deck gun; Elkhart 125-gpm foam eductor system; coffin storage compartments. Dealer: Bob Miller, Campbell Supply Company, South Brunswick, NJ.

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Osceola County recently broke ground on its new Fire Station 45, located near the intersection of W192 and SR 535.

Station 45 amps up the station count to 17, which is the most the county has had serving the community in the unincorporated area since the department’s beginnings in 1989, reports clickorlando.com. It’s also the second of three stations the county has started construction on in 2022.

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“The station will play a key role in providing fire rescue and emergency services to our community. The station is located at 4990 Calypso Cay Way,” a Facebook post reads.

The Omaha Fire Department recently opened its Station 31.

“Our new Fire Station 31, located at 3404 Q Street, is now officially open! Our crews officially moved in last week and a hose uncoupling ceremony was held [Thursday] morning to mark this momentous occasion.

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“Station 31 had been located at 4702 S 25th Street since February 5, 1949, when the City of Omaha built this station for $50,000. It has been called Station 5, Station 14, and most recently, Station 31. There has been a fire station at this corner since the turn of the century, originally being home to the City of South Omaha Fire Department until the City of Omaha built a new station on the same lot in 1949.

“The new Station 31 is a one-story building that sits on a site of 2.5 acres and houses Engine 31, Truck 31, and Medic 31. The station has 11 individual bedrooms along with an exercise room, kitchen, dayroom, and four drive-through apparatus bays. The cost to build the new Station 31 was approximately $5 Million and this money came from the Capital Improvement Program and Public Safety Bonds. This new station will provide excellent fire service to the citizens of Omaha for many years to come.

“Thank you to everyone who has helped bring this project to fruition including Mayor Jean Stothert for her unwavering support and dedication to Public Safety; our City’s network representatives: Mike Oestmann, Larry Tatum, & Steve Gustafson of Public Works, David Fanslau of Planning, and Kevin Andersen of the Mayor’s Office; Omaha’s City Councilmembers; Carlson West Povondra Architects; D.R. Anderson Construction Team; DOTComm; the members of our Fire Station Planning Committee; Omaha Fire Technical Services Division Team including Battalion Chief Jason Bradley; and the Omaha Fire Command Staff.

“Specia