Monroe, GA- On Thursday, April 21, 2022, at approximately 3:39 a.m., the firefighter on duty at Walton County Fire Rescue Station 7 was awakened by smoke detectors to find a fire in the apparatus bay of the station. The firefighter was able to safely exit the building and call for a fire alarm over the radio to the 911 center.

Fire Station 7 is located at 2077 Nunnally Shoals Road, Good Hope, Georgia 30641. The fire appears to have originated in the apparatus bay housing Fire Engine 7. The fire station and equipment housed at the station sustained damage.

Walton County Fire Rescue received aid from several stations, including Walton County Fire Station

April 21, 2022 – Port Clinton, PA – Reading & Northern Railroad has acquired the former north campus of the Kovatch Fire truck company. The complex consists of nine buildings spread over approximately 10 acres of property in Nesquehoning Borough, Carbon County.

The Kovatch company was sold six years ago to KME, a part of the REV Group. Last Fall, KME decided to cease operations in Nesquehoning and the property was put up for sale.

Earlier: KME’s Carbon County (PA) Plant Closes; Final Truck to Stay Close By

The facility sits in the middle of the Reading & Northern 400-mile rail system that runs from Reading in the south to Hazleton, Scranton and Mehoopany in the North. The Kovatch location is alongside the rail line that Reading & Northern purchased in 2021 from Carbon County, a rail line that now connects the Reading & Northern’s Reading and Lehigh Divisions.

The investment in the Kovatch facility is just the latest investment by Reading & Northern in this region. In 2020 Reading & Northern finished the construction of the new Nesquehoning Bridge Phase 2 at a total cost of $14 million. After it purchased the Carbon County rail line for $4.7 million, Reading & Northern spent over $5 million to upgrade the track. And now Reading & Northern has acquired the Kovatch property in Nesquehoning for $2 million.

“We are investing in our future and the future of the communities we serve,” said Andy Muller, Jr., founder, and owner/CEO of Reading & Northern. “Our company is growing by leaps and bounds. In fact, we believe we will be enjoying double digit carload and revenue growth for years to come fueled in large part by the increasing worldwide demand for Pennsylvania anthracite coal. We have always been known as “the Road of Anthracite” and this year the world has decided to purchase its coal from reliable Pennsylvania producers instead of Russia. We expect our coal business to grow substantially in 2022 and for years to come.”

Among the buildings purchased by Reading & Northern are a number of buildings with heavy cranes systems capable of lifting equipment of varying weights. “We anticipate locating important parts of our freight and passenger operations in Nesquehoning, which sits in such a perfect location for our railroad and our employees. We now will have the room to grow our equipment maintenance and repair facilities as well as providing much needed storage. With over 1600 freight cars and our ever-growing passenger fleet, which now consists of 47 cars, plus over 70 motor vehicles and countless number of other equipment for our track department and other departments, we were running out of space to keep our equipment well maintained.” said Muller.

As part of its agreement with KME, Reading & Northern has allowed them to lease the buildings so they could complete the building of the last fire trucks to come out of the original Kovatch location. Reading & Northern Railroad, with its corporate headquarters in Port Clinton, is a privately held railroad company serving over 75 customers in nine eastern Pennsylvania counties (Berks, Bradford, Carbon, Columbia, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Northumberland, Schuylkill, and Wyoming). It has expanded its operations over the last 30+ years and now handles over 34,000 carloads of freight and 225,000 excursion train riders over 400 miles of track.

Reading & Northern operates both freight se

The Orangeburg Department of Public Safety has three new fire trucks, which were christened Tuesday.

The new apparatus are expected to last 12 to 20 years, and they range from $600,000 to $1.4 million, reports wltx.com. They were made possible via lease-purchase agreement from the city.

Officials say one of the predecessors was 23 years old and experienced frequent hydraulic leaks. The new trucks have updated technology and are more modern in general, the report notes.

The Northview-Kodak Fire Department is holding an auction May 21 to replace its Engine 44 that was destroyed in last month’s Sevier County wildfires.

The auction will be held at Northview Intermediate School, and funds “will go toward replacing our fire truck lost in the fire.”

“Engine 44 was the first new engine the department had purchased in 2000,” a press release from last month notes. “It [had] responded to 1000s of calls over its 22 years of service.”

The department notes that the apparatus loss has and will not affect its service; it still has two engines, a tanker, a ladder truck, and several support vehicles in its fleet.

The press release from the engine’s accident:

On March 30, 2022, Northview Fire Department along with several other departments in the area were dispatched to 2862 Indigo Lane for mutual aid on a brush fire. We received the call at 11:17 am and went en route shortly after with an engine and 2-man crew while others were getting ready to respond. This is what has become known as the Hatcher Mountain Fire.

Crews arrived on the scene with other agencies and immediately started helping with evacuation and fire attacks to save structures. With the low humidity, high winds, and available fuel load the fire had become extremely erratic. As the fire raced up the mountain where several firefighters and equipment were stationed it became apparent that firefighters needed to leave the area immediately. Firefighters were able to make it to safety, but we did lose Engine 44. We are grateful for the quick thinking and training that these firefighters displayed and for their safety after the call.

Due to the support that we have received in the Kodak community for years, we are still able to respond to all calls in our area without delay in response. We look forward to replacing our engine in the very near future, but the loss of this equipment will not affect our commitment and ability to take care of our community. We still have 2 engines, a tanker, a ladder truck, and several support vehicles that respond in our community daily.

History of Engine 44, this was the first new engine the department had purchased in 2000. It has responded to 1000’s of calls over its 22 years of service. Pictures are showing before and after the damage from the fire.

For more information about Northview Fire Department or this release, please contact Public Information Officer, Daniel Willis at 865-256-7181, or you can email directly at PIONKFD@Gmail.com