The engine was bought from Travis County Emergency Services District No. 5, which purchased its new engine for about $1 million.

“This was old (for them),” Granite Shoals City Manager Ken Nickel said. “They didn’t need it anymore.”

The purchase price was $50,000. Half of the payment was due in September with the remaining balance to be paid in November.

By splitting the payments in two, one half will be part of the 2015-16 fiscal year, and the other will be part of the 2016-17 fiscal year.

The engine now brings the Granite Shoals Fire Department’s total to three fire trucks.

Frequently, that honor includes giving a local emergency response vehicle the number “343,” in recognition of the New York City Fire Department personnel who lost their lives as a result of the attacks.

Earlier this year, Athens-Clarke County joined the ranks of those communities, as a new $800,000 ladder truck, based at Station 3 in Five Points, was christened “Ladder 343.”

Today, the 15th anniversary of 9/11, marks the first anniversary of the attacks since the truck has been in service. The new truck replaces and updates Ladder 3, a fire truck that has been in service for 27 years and has now been placed in reserve status, a first for the Athens-Clarke 
County Fire & Emergency Services Department.

In addition to the “343” designation, the new ladder truck includes the New York department’s FDNY designation and a graphic depicting the New York fire department’s patch.

The truck’s designation was the idea of Assistant Fire Chief Kyle Hendrix, who wrote New York City Fire Department Commissioner Daniel Nigro to notify him that Athens-Clarke County had taken steps to remember the fallen New York firefighters.

In the letter, Hendrix told Nigro that Ladder 343 will serve Athens-Clarke County “as a reminder of the heroism and tragedy of that fateful day” and will honor “the courage, heroism and sacrifice of your firefighters.”

In June, when the truck was delivered to the county, a ceremony noting the significance of its special designation was held at City Hall. At that ceremony, Athens-Clarke County Fire Chief Jeff Scarbrough recounted the work of New York firefighters at the World Trade Center towers, citing reports that civilians who made it out of the north tower, the first to be hit, said “the presence of firefighters gave them a sense of calm.”