"In Worcester in particular the building was old and the firefighters ran out of oxygen," Neal said. "They were lost in the building. They were trapped."

Chief Burger expects to have 28 new air packs in the next three months, followed by a month of training before they are put in use.

"You have to be able to operate them flawlessly with your eyes closed at 3 o'clock in the morning," said Burger.

Burger says the new air packs are made by a company called Scott which has 60 percent of the market share. They contain 50 percent more oxygen than the current "30-minute packs," which provide about 12 minutes of working time. He says firefighting packs have universal air connections among the manufacturers.

Indeed, Lt. Chris West described the department's feelings about the new engine as being "like a kid in a candy store."

Three more engines just like this one are expected to be in Whitfield County by the end of the week, and extensive training will start next week, West said.

All drivers will practice driving through parking lots with cones and will complete a 35-mile road test before they're certified to drive the engines.

Then drivers where the engines will be located (Station 3 in Dawnville, Station 4 in Valley Point, Station 7 in Tunnel Hill, and Station 8 on the South Bypass) will spend even more time training, completing a couple of hundred miles of driving apiece "before they start trucking down the road running emergencies."

Not only are the engines new, though, but all the equipment going on them will be new, an important factor for the department, West pointed out.

Now, however, there will be seven reserve engines fully equipped throughout the county that can be used as reserve and second-out trucks if needed at a fire.

Each of the four new engines will cost around $425,000 counting equipment, and West was quick to point out the importance of the SPLOST funds.

The new trucks are "by far" better engines and "safer for the firemen," West said. "They're built from the chassis up to be a fire truck, designed to be a fire truck, designed to carry the weight," he said, "so it'll make our firemen safer, just going to make them do their job more efficiently."

Two more new big trucks are also on the way, including a 75-foot single-axle ladder truck and a 100-foot aerial dual-axle truck that are expected to be here in September or October.

The owner of Trans Tech Towing offered to pay for the decals, which means no public donations were used for them. The decals were added to the trucks last week.

"I would suspect that the community appreciates it," said David Emswiler, who works with the department. "I think we have so much diversity right now and so much strife going on in our country and across the world, I think it says something about where our values are really at."

Warwick recently purchased Northfield's Engine One, a 1989 Pierce Arrow pumper/tanker, for $25,000.

Northfield paid $550,000 for a brand new, custom-ordered Pierce pumper/tanker and did not have room in its station for an additional vehicle. So, Gates arranged to have the old engine checked to make sure it was in good working order, and had it transported to Warwick's station on a recent Friday.

All of Warwick Fire Department's vehicles are more than 20 years old, with the newest being a 1991 engine. But the station's old vehicles have never failed to get the job done, Gates said.

New engines, Gates said, pump 1,500 gallons of water per minute, as opposed to the 1957 truck, which can pump 700 gallons per minute. New vehicles also seat five firefighters as opposed to two.

The truck will continue to be used frequently in parades.