If approved, the town would purchase a new $987,000 Pierce Ascendant 110-foot ladder truck.The town would have to pay a 5 percent match of up to $50,000.

The department hadn’t bought any new hoses since 2012, Zern said, and then it wasn’t enough for a full set for a truck. Most of the attack hoses are more than 20 years old, and most of the supply hoses are more than 10 years old, he said.  

It can be expensive, too. For the 5-inch supply hose, which is the largest type of hose and supplies water from a source to the pump truck, Zern said it can cost more than $500 for 100 feet of hose. Each truck complement contains 800 feet of 5-inch hose, as well as another 1,900 feet of supply and attack hose.

Hopkins Fiscal Court approved GVFD’s $5,000 matching funds request during a meeting held Tuesday.

“We applied for $259,069 worth of grant funds,” Chief Nick Bailey wrote in a letter to the court.

The $264,610 bid for the new Rosenbauer pumper truck was awarded to All American Fire Equipment based in Ohio. The volunteer fire department will pick up the rest of the tab, the chief said.

Baker says a school bus was approaching from the west and the fire truck driver attempted to move over. That’s when the truck’s tire went off the right side of the road. When he tried to correct, the truck overturned on its top.  

No injuries were reported and no charges have been filed.