Officials have agreed to finance a new fire truck for the Freeport (PA) Volunteer Fire Department, reports triblive.com.

Council recently voted to approve a 10-year, $250,000 loan through Volunteer’s Financial Services at a 3.35% fixed rate; that plus $300,000 in capital projects funds will be used to cover the cost of a new custom Pierce apparatus, the report says.

Annual loan payments are listed at about $29,000 and would be covered by the $30,000 yearly contribution the borough gives to the fire department.

The apparatus will replace a 1987 Mack Grumman engine that recently failed a pump test.

The department is currently working on paperwork to finalize the loan; officials say the fire truck committee will meet one more time before production to finalize specifications, the report says. Officials estimate it won’t be ready for delivery for at least 15 months.

Proposed specs include a tank of at least 750 gallons and a pump that can handle 2,000 gallons per minute.

The Capital Beltway was shut down in Montgomery County (MD) Sunday morning after a driver crashed into a fire truck that was responding to a previous crash, reports nbcwashington.com.

All lanes of the Outer Loop of the Beltway, Interstate 495, were closed between Colesville Road and Georgia Avenue for nearly an hour, police officials say.

Traffic Advisory – OL I495 beltway just before Georgia Avenue, fire engine (PE716) struck on beltway, striking vehicle with entrapment, trapped driver has been extricated, all lanes blocked pic.twitter.com/Kw77ULsrZa

— Pete Piringer (@mcfrsPIO) January 2, 2022

A Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service crew was responding to a minor crash around 8 a.m. when another driver crashed into the apparatus. The driver of the car had to be extricated.

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No one on the apparatus was hurt, and three other people, including one from the original crash, were not taken to hospitals.

ATTENTION MOTORISTS: It's likely drivers will encounter EMERGENCY VEHICLES in your travels..SLOW DOWN & MOVE OVER approaching Emergency Fire/Rescue/EMS /PD/Tow Vehicles @mcfrs *Hear Us, *See Us, *Clear for Us! SEE: https://t.co/oGN9zgUcxq Give Full Attention SLOW DOWN & BE SAFE pic.twitter.com/CiNkXNa0nf

— Pete Piringer (@mcfrsPIO) January 2, 2022

More than six years after first stating its need for a new ladder truck, the Cumberland (MD) Fire Department has now taken delivery of a $1.3 million Sutphen 100-foot aerial, reports times-news.com.

The whole process took about two years, officials say.

For the past few weeks before the truck’s arrival, the department was operating sans ladder, as its 1992 Sutphen was out of service, the report says. The elder Sutphen now resides at the county’s Department of Emergency Services facility at Mexico Farms.

The purchase was funded as part of $3.8 million raised in a municipal bond sale in 2019, the report says.

Krishna James was arrested after he broke into the New Castle (PA) fire station Saturday, reports wtae.com.

The 38-year-old Hubbard (OH) man walked into the station and can be seen on video picking up an ax and striking a door with it, police officials say.

The ruckus woke up a napping firefighter who was warned of an ensuing siege, the report says. Police say James was armed with a handgun at the time.

Ohio man arrested after breaking into fire station in Lawrence County https://t.co/aYx0BM4KuW

— WTAE-TV Pittsburgh (@WTAE) January 2, 2022

Personnel escorted him out of the station before he fled, the report says. He then fired several shots at a fire alarm at the Lawrence County Community Action Partnership building before a call came in for him attempting to break into the McGonigle Ambulance station at Jefferson and Falls streets.

Police eventually found James inside a vehicle at the Oak Leaf Gardens apartment complex around 10 a.m., where he was shot twice with 40mm less lethal sponge rounds after refusing to comply with commands, the report says.

He’s being held in the Lawrence County Jail on $100,000 bond on charges of burglary, trespassing, criminal mischief, and discharge of firearms prohibited.