The Cameron Volunteer Fire Department recently took delivery of a new fire truck from the Texas Forest Service that will help firefighters battle grass and wildfires.
The 1998 Steward and Stevenson M1078 two-and-a-half ton truck, surplus from the Department of Defense Firefighter Property Program, which Texas A&M Forest Service administers, was converted to civilian fire department use and was be fitted with a slip-on unit that includes a 500-gallon water tank, Cameron VFD Fire Chief Henry Horelica said.
A slip-on unit is designed to become a fast initial-attack fire-fighting unit; durable, flexible and highly mobile. It is used in wildland fire-fighting as well as structure and auto fires and is a complete, self-contained, fire-fighting apparatus designed for a pick-up truck or custom-built vehicle platform.
“With this slip-on unit, the truck now has a 500-gallon water tank, hose reel, pump, ladders, rails, light bar and siren,” Horelica explained.
“When we received the truck we had it painted at a local body shop,” said.