Assistant Fire Chief Phil Dickens says that a FEMA grant awarded in May enabled the department to purchase 22 new sets of turnout gear and 14 new and improved Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus packs.

According to the National Fire Protection Association, Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) is a critical component in the personal protective equipment used by firefighters.

The turnout gear provides firefighters with protection from flames, heat and other hazards in hostile environments.

Chief Dickens says the department has applied for another FEMA Grant to purchase new fire hose and a new station to fill air tanks.

The massive new engine and pumper replaces a 1999 model, according to Horn Lake Fire Chief David Linville.

The new fire truck is bound for Fire Station 2. Firefighters are presently undergoing training at Station No. 3.

"We've been conducting a three-day exercise," said Linville, adding the new fire truck has plenty of "bells and whistles" that firefighters must acquaint themselves with during the course of the training.

"This will provide enhanced fire protection for the City of Horn Lake," said Horn Lake Mayor Allen Latimer.

He praised Linville for not only taking the initiative to train the firefighters on the new equipment but for the role that Linville and his fellow firefighters play in keeping the community safe each and every day.

Linville's department is once again in the running for the "Golden Axe Award," sponsored by the Muscular Dystrophy Association for leading the state in the "Fill the Boot Campaign" undertaken by fire departments across Mississippi.

The Pueblo West department got its new pumpers — which are fire trucks that carry water and are the main source for pumping water — in October and they went into service about two weeks ago after the fire department worked on them to get them ready to go, according to Brad Davidson, a division chief of the Pueblo West Fire Department.

Davidson said the department needed the pumpers because more resources are necessary to respond to an increase in calls and it needed to replace aging equipment.

“They’ve been great so far,” Davidson said. “They’re class A custom pumpers, which means it has a bigger pump in it and the quality of the construction of the truck is good.”

Because the department got two new pumpers, it decided to get rid of a 1976 class A pumper that had been used by the department as a reserve truck.

“We thought, ‘What was the best thing we could do with this truck?’ and the idea was to see if any smaller volunteer fire department around us could use it,” Davidson said.

The Boone Fire Department jumped at the opportunity to get the pumper.

The Boone department had only one class A pumper and if that truck were to break down and go out of service for repairs they had no backup options except for two brush trucks, which are used for fighting brush and grass fires but aren’t necessarily suited for other types of firefighting.