Terry Richards
The Valdosta Daily Times, Ga.
(TNS)

Mar. 25—VALDOSTA — With flashing lights and blaring sirens, the latest addition to Valdosta’s firefighting fleet rolled into service Friday.

A new pumper truck, manufactured by the Sutphen Corporation, made its debut at the Valdosta Fire Department Station No. 1 at 106 S. Oak St. amid a crowd of city officials, firefighters, children and well-wishers. Fire personnel from Lowndes County, Quitman and Moody Air Force Base were on hand.

After an invocation, Fire Chief Brian Boutwell said the new truck is the first purchased with his input. Boutwell has headed the fire department for four years.

A vendor had contacted the department offering a “demo” unit that was being assembled, he said, but the vendor said the department would have to act fast or it could be sold to other interests.

Quick action by the Valdosta City Council in putting the truck on a meeting agenda and formally approving the purchase cut the usual wait time from 2.5 years to six months, the chief said.

The truck was ceremonially rolled back into one of the station’s bays manually by a crowd of school children wearing plastic fire helmets and assisted by a number of adults. Boutwell said the tradition dates back to the 19th century, when horse-drawn fire equipment couldn’t be backed into the bays by the horses and had to be done by hand by firefighters.

Shortly afterward, the truck rolled out of the station and into traffic.

Terry Richards is the senior reporter for The Valdosta Daily Times.

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Greenwood’s city council unanimously approved using nearly $426,000 in federal relief funds to help pay for fire trucks and security cameras, dailyjournal.net reported.

City council members voted 9-0 Monday night to use $314,814 of $425,943 in federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act to pay for a vendor surcharge on a fire engine and a ladder truck, the report said.

City officials ordered a ladder truck and an engine for the Greenwood Fire Department in 2021. The equipment was initially set to be delivered within 12 months of purchasing, however, city officials were contacted earlier this year by the seller, who indicated it was “no longer economically feasible” for them to build the trucks at the price the city contracted them to build at in 2021, a city official said last month.

If the city wanted them to be built anytime soon, then they would have to pay a surcharge. The surcharge was driven by supply chain complications, the city official said.

The remaining $111,129 in funds would be used to purchase new security cameras for the Greenwood Fieldhouse parking garage, and replace cameras at the Indy South Greenwood Airport and the Greenwood Police Department Training Center, according to the report.

The Texarkana Fire Department invited the public to celebrate the addition of a new engine to its fleet Monday, texarkanagazette.com reported.

Festivities will include a washing ceremony, a blessing and “a few fire service traditions for everyone to enjoy,” according to a city hall news release.

The “Lucky No. 7” pumper truck was manufactured in Brandon (SD) by Spartan Emergency Response. It took 18 months to complete, with a total cost of $731,000, the report said.

The new truck has 450 horsepower, carries a five-person crew and can pump 1,500 gpm with a 750-gallon tank capacity, according to the report.

The event is scheduled for 2 p.m. Monday, March 27, at Fire Station 7, 3101 South Lake Drive.

The Kingsport Fire Department is getting ready to roll out two new pieces of equipment, wcyb.com reported.

The department recently took delivery of two brand new Pierce Velocity fire engines.

A fire official said crews have been in the process of installing necessary equipment, like hoses and air tanks, the report said.

News 5 learned the price-tag on the engines totaled over $700,000 each, and older vehicles are slated to be retired, according to the report.

Voters in the Boles Fire Protection District will decide the fate of an $8 million bond issue on April 4, emissourian.com reported. 

If voters approve the measure, known as Proposition Fire, taxpayers would not see an increase in their taxes and the district would be able to replace aging equipment, address longstanding maintenance issues at the four fire stations in the district and purchase equipment upgrades for firefighters, according to a fire official.

The district would look to buy between two or three new pumper trucks, two or three new smaller brush fire trucks, and one or two new water tankers, the report said.  

Proposition Fire would also allow the district to address some maintenance issues at each of the four fire stations, which were last renovated in the early 2000s, according to the report. 

Of the voters casting a ballot for the April 4 election, Proposition Fire will need to receive four-sevenths of all votes cast in order to pass, the report said.