Great Falls Fire Chief Steven Hester told commissioners that giving the 1989 Ford L9000 to the Neihart fire department is "the right thing to do."

"This fire engine was released after 27 hard years of work," Hester said. "Neihart  fire chief Scott Hertzog let us know that their department is in dire need of a fire engine, and he was interested in knowing what we were going to do with our fire engines once they had been decommissioned as result of replacing our engines here recently."

Hester noted that the engine in question has rarely been used by Great Falls Fire Rescue for close to a decade, and that it no longer meets the demands of firefighting in an urban environment.

The new $518,500 truck can provide the department with more water and higher pressure, said Assistant Fire Chief Steven Merchant III. The vehicle's 1,000-gallon tank can pump water at 1,500 gallons per minute; the truck it's replacing has a rate of 1,200 GPM, he said.

The old 1991 pumper will stay in service as a backup, said Merchant.

"We got it new and it's done a good job," he said.

The old vehicle will be housed at the town's highway garage, said company engineer Pat Collins.

"It still pumps. It's still a good truck," he said.

The Marianna Fire Department just received the Assistance to Firefighters grant for about $39,000.

Some of the new equipment will include rescue jacks, spreaders, and cutters.

Chief Nicky Lovett said they should receive the new equipment in about 90 days or less.

Eastgate VFD will receive up to $312,000 over the next four years. The money will be allotted to a number of programs for attracting new volunteers to the department and making sure those who join stay on the force.

Mergenthaler said they’ll use some of the grant money to advertise in the community about the department and about the need for more volunteers. The grant will also provide stipends for Eastgate firefighters to receive more training.

The department will also hire a coordinator to help them determine how the money should be used.