County Receives First New Fire Trucks in Decades

The Carroll County Civic Center was the backdrop of an impressive display of 12 brand new fire trucks on Thursday, April 16.

The Carroll County Fire Department (CCFD), in the span of seven months, received the trucks in what Carroll County Commissioner Lana Suite considered a “catch-up” investment of $5.4 million into the department.

When Carroll County Fire Chief Jonathan Gaskins joined the fire department, fleet management and improvement was one of his primary initiatives. At the time, the average age of the department’s fleet was 38 years, with some of the oldest trucks being from the 1980s.

Since receiving the new trucks, the CCFD has begun auctioning some of its older vehicles. The CCFD now has 44 pieces of equipment in total. Gaskins estimated that the department’s average fleet age is now somewhere in the 20s, with the oldest vehicles being from the 1990s.

Of the new trucks, four are tankers, two are mini-pumpers and six are fire engines. The four tankers were the first shipment, arriving in September. The two mini-pumpers arrived in November, and the six engines arrived in February. All 12 trucks were purchased from Fouts Fire, Inc.

Because these trucks are the first new vehicles the department has received in recent decades, they have newer technologies that the firefighters needed to learn. For example, the tanker trucks have built-in computer systems that help firefighters adjust the hoses’ water pressure.

Gaskins said the new trucks will help reduce response times, lower maintenance costs and make CCFD’s firefighters more efficient overall.

“It’s just a great investment for the entire county, all the way around,” said Gaskins. Trevor Foster, Carroll County Emergency Management Agency Director said the new vehicles will help with fire response throughout the county. He said the investment also shows firefighters that the county is behind them and supporting them.

“This equipment is a lot safer,” Foster said. “Some of the old equipment that we surplussed didn’t have seat belts in them. They just had lap belts.”

County Commissioner Suite, chairman of the Rural Fire Department Committee, said the county will likely make more strategic purchases in the future to keep the department’s fleet more up-to-date.

“This was really a catch-up purchase,” she said. “I think a plan going forward, maybe, is to purchase a new piece of equipment every other year so that we don’t get into the situation where we need to make a purchase this large ever again.”

The trucks went to county stations with the oldest trucks and the highest call volumes. All of the vehicles are currently in service, and Gaskins said some of them have already been used to respond to calls.