June 9, 2016 — GORDONVILLE, Texas — Gordonville Volunteer Fire Department received a retired
military vehicle from Texas A&M Forest Service as part of the Department of Defense Firefighter Property
Program.
The two-and-a-half-ton Stewart Stevenson military truck is a new addition to the department.
“We painted it a nonmilitary color, added emergency lighting, and the slip-on unit which we got with a 100
percent grant from TFS,” Gordonville VFD Chief Doug Adcock said. “We are in the process of putting a
wildland firefighting deck gun on the front,t and then the vehicle will be set to fight wildland fires.”
The department was able to purchase a slip-on unit for the truck using a $20,000 grant from Texas A&M
Forest Service’s Rural Volunteer Fire Department Assistance Program.
A slip-on unit is a complete, self-contained firefighting apparatus designed for a pick-up truck or custom-built
vehicle platforms. It is intended to become a fast, initial-attack firefighting component used for wildland
firefighting, structure and automobile fires.
In addition to wildland firefighting, the department also uses the truck for high or swift water rescues.
“Our Community is near the Red River and Lake Texoma and has several creeks that recently got out of their
banks,” Adcock said. “The flooding caused the closing of several roads and homes. We used this vehicle to
respond in those rural, high water rescues.”
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.
To learn more about this program, visit http://texasfd.com.