Cookeville’s Fire Department took a huge step this week, and so did the city.
That’s according to Fire Chief Daryl Blair. The city ordered two new fire trucks-a new aerial and rescue apparatus.
“It will be state of the art, not only for what we need now, but what we forsee the future,” Blair said. “Because anytime you’re putting this type of investment in with anything you don’t need to just look at what you need today, but you need to try to plan for the future with it.”
Blair said the aerial truck features a 107-foot ladder, replacing the 100-foot 1972 model. The rescue truck has larger pumps and more compartment space for gear storage and medical use. He said the two apparatus will cost some $2 million.
“We made do with what we had,” Blair said. “We’ve had to change a lot of things around over the years to make it work, but we just didn’t have the space to do exactly what we needed to do. It’s exciting now. The last new pumper we got was in ’18.”
The research conducted to purchase this equipment is a carefully thought out process. Blair said the number one consideration is safety.
“We look at the pros and cons of everything,” Blair said. “I’m very proud of the command staff for all the research that we’ve put in this. We’ve been-in the last year, we’ve put quite a few hours in researching all this and try to come up with what’s best for us.”
The new ladder will be housed at Station Four off of England Drive. The new rescue pumper will go to Station Five under City Hall. Blair said it could take about a year before the department sees their new apparatus.
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