Currently, the department has one tanker that runs on all first-alarm fires.

Once the new tanker is in service, most likely in January, it will immediately double the amount of water available at a rural fire in areas without fire hydrants.

“We are the only fire district in the area to only have one tanker,” Halmich said. “We purchased the tanker we have now in 2001.”

The chief added, although the frequency of fires requiring tanker shuttles had decreased over the past few years, they still have between six and eight calls per year that require extra water to be hauled in.