Texas A&M Forest Service recently awarded a $200,000 grant to the Childress Volunteer Fire Department for a new tender through the Rural Volunteer Fire Department Assistance Program.
The 2016 Freightliner, which will be a first out vehicle, is an update from a 22-year-old truck that required continuous maintenance.
“The truck is equipped for structure fires, but it also has plenty of storage space for rescue tools that are very important when responding to vehicle accidents,” said Childress VFD Assistant Chief Daniel Tyler. “In those cases, time is a crucial element in saving lives. We will no longer have to wait for another truck to arrive with the Jaws of Life and other tools. We will have them readily available making for a quicker response time.”
Childress is located at the intersection of U.S. Route 287 and U.S. Route 83, and vehicle accidents are the primary call volume of Childress VFD.
“Our closest mutual aid is 30 miles away,” said Tyler. “Our community has fire hydrants and there are four hydrants in the community of Kirkland as well, but our response area covers 900 square miles which means a lot of it is rural.”
The 1,250-gallon water tank on the tender and its ability to draft water as needed, will increase firefighting capabilities for the department.
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 the Texas State Legislature and administered by Texas A&M Forest Service. This program provides funding to rural VFDs for the acquisition of firefighting vehicles, fire and rescue equipment, protective clothing, dry-hydrants, computer systems and firefighter training.
For more information on programs offered by Texas A&M Forest Service, please visit http://texasfd.com.