VIDEO: The Merrill Fire Department does more than just battle structure fires within city limits. It covers 141 square miles in southern Lincoln County. In the spring, the department helps control forest or wildland fires about every day or every other day. But it needs better tools to help do that job. "Behind me is a wildland truck that the City of Merrill has had for about 18 or 20 years," Merrill Fire Chief Dave Savone. "[There are] some problems with it, and it's being replaced." Merrill was one of almost 200 departments in Wisconsin to get a grant from the DNR. The money will go to a new truck and new equipment for the truck. In the last four years, the Merrill Fire Department has been awarded about $1.5 million in grants.