FREER, Texas ––Freer Volunteer Fire Department received an excess military vehicle to convert
into a firefighting apparatus through the DoD Firefighter Property Program implemented by
Texas A&M Forest Service.
“We are out in a sparse area, and we didn’t have sufficient water supply when fighting brush fires,”
Fire Chief James Finney said. “All we had was a small combination brush-tanker truck, and it
couldn’t hold the water capacity we needed.”
The truck will help increase efficiency in fighting fires for this spread out region, according to
Regional Fire Coordinator, Craig Olson.
“There are only two VFDs in the entire county,” Olson said. “They service some very open country,
so it was a long way to water supply when they ran out. This truck will greatly increase their initial
attack capacity on fires.”
Recipients of this excess military property are required to convert the vehicle into a service-ready
unit within 180 days of acquisition.
“The truck had to be painted a different color from the army paint,” Finney said. “Thankfully the
truck already had a pump on it, so all we had to do was switch out the connections on it to turn it
into a firefighting vehicle.”
Since its initiation in 2005, this program has released over 300 retired military trucks to VFDs across
Texas to help them better protect lives and property.
“The program has helped out both our department and our community tremendously in being able
to provide sufficient water supply to fires in our area,” Finney said.
To learn more about this program, visit http://texasfd.com.