The new vehicle is a 2016 Freightliner four-wheel drive chassis, outfitted with a 1,000 gallon water tank and a pump with foam capability.

The vehicle can serve in multiple roles bit its primary purpose is fighting wildland fires.

“It is good to have dependable equipment that doesn’t require continuous investment in repairs,” said Blackwell VFD Chief Randy Pieper. “This tender will be ready to go at a moment’s notice.”

Blackwell VFD was established in 1959 and its 40 volunteers serve approximately 15,000 residents over 754 square miles in Nolan County.

“We appreciate Texas A&M Forest Service having grant programs that are such a great benefit to small departments like ours,” said Pieper.

Texas A&M Forest Service is committed to protecting lives and property through the Rural Volunteer Fire Department Assistance Program, a cost-share program funded by Texas State Legislature and administered by Texas A&M Forest Service. 

 He said it would allow the county fire department to better protect homes in the county against brush and grass fires. Chief Endsley said more and more new homes were being built in the county that were large ones, 3,000 to 4,000 square feet. He said the new truck included an auxiliary pump on top. Chief Endsley said the Class A pumper could carry 1,000 gallons of water. He called the truck a game changer for the county fire depart. He said the truck would require 90 days to be built. The chassis and cab are pre-built. Chief Endsley said the county would be able to design the back end of the vehicle to be built just the way they want. He said the truck would be the first custom built Class A pumper that the county had ever owned. Chief Endsley said the truck should last 20 years. The cost for the fire truck is $433,000.

Greenville Volunteer Fire Department Chief Clif Powell said voters approved a proposition from the department to purchase a new $650,000 tanker engine.

The vote was held Dec. 13 at the department's annual commissioner election, Powell said. Of the approximate 1,000 taxpayers in the Greenville Fire District, only 28 voted, Powell said. The meeting had been publicized through a legal notice in the Greenville Pioneer.

"It was an overwhelming vote to approve it, 20 people voted yes and 8 voted against it," Powell said.

The new engine will replace an aging, leaking machine taken out of service two years ago, Powell said.

"It's going to be replacing one tanker than went out of service because the tank was about 40 years old and it had ruptured," Powell said. "The truck was a 1994 model but the tank was from the 1970s." Replacing the ruptured tank would cost approximately $100,000, Powell said, but with a 22-year-old chassis and engine, department leaders opted to move for a new engine.

"The life expectancy for an engine is no more than 20 years," Powell said.

Voters approved the proposal for a new engine, the department's first vehicle purchase since the acquisition of a 2007-model ladder truck a decade ago, Powell said.

But while fire district taxpayers will pay for the new machine, Powell said, the purchase will not cause fire district taxes to increase.