It hadn't been in Sallisaw but a few hours before the Sallisaw Fire Department had to use its new tanker truck to help combat a fire. Sallisaw Fire Chief Anthony Armstrong said Friday morning he and Assistant Fire Chief Steve Padgett had just returned from picking the tanker up at La Grange, Texas.
Only moments later, the Sallisaw Fire Department, along with the new tanker, responded to an alarm of a fire near Applegate Cove.
The 2017 Model tanker is the first tanker the fire department has ever had, Armstrong said. It was built by Fouts Brothers and has a 3,000-gallon capacity tank. It also boasts a 1250 GPM pump. It took six months to build the tanker once it was ordered.
“It’s as large as any pumper we already have. It can be used as a pumper,” Armstrong said. “It can be used on car fires, or grass fires, or any where there is no fireplug protection.”
The cost for the tanker is $217,299. The Cherokee Nation donated $50,000 toward the purchase and the U.S. Department Agriculture came up with another $50,000, Armstrong said. The City of Sallisaw paid $117,299 in funds it already had budgeted for the tanker.