Mayor Norris worked with the city to make sure that the fire station was a top priority.

The new fire station is on a hill, safe from the raging creek that flooded it’s original location.Fire chief Danny Bedwell was emotional when we spoke with him back in April.

"We took off on a couple medical calls last night, when we came home we noticed some snow tracks running across the ramp," said Captain George Hedebeck. "We came out and took a look and first think I looked for was my car was locked, all my windows were intact." 

Then, Hedebeck noticed a red rubber hose hanging out of his fuel door. The gas siphoning thief took off in a hurry. Hedebeck only lost a few gallons worth of gas -- he's glad there wasn't any other damage.

"If he would have drilled through the tank, that would have been an incredible problem."

The 2006 Pierce XT “has a 2,000-gallon a minute pump on it, a 95-foot platform on it, and a full complement of ladders,” said Pratte, detailing some of the features. It can act as a water pumper in case one goes down or is in use somewhere else.  

It’s not meant for every fire, but for larger structure fires in commercial or residential areas, for example. At 43 feet long and weighing 83,000 pounds, it's not meant for smaller roads.

The University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government found that the boat’s value as a “portable fire hydrant” and the vessel’s “extremely important” rescue capabilities are worth the expense.  

While there’s always a balance between risk management and costs of services, best practices call for a marine company to operate along the Savannah River, Paula Sanford told the Savannah City Council last week. She is a local government finance specialist who conducted the study.

“I would suggest that you work with the [Georgia Ports Authority] or any authority that receives the service for free, if they are tax exempt, to help pay for it,” Sanford said.