Madison County gets new $1.4M one-of-a-kind 9/11-themed fire truck

Madison County gets new $1.4M one-of-a-kind 9/11-themed fire truck

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Madison County took delivery of a new one-of-a-kind 20th Remembrance of 9/11 Rosenbauer 101 King Cobra Fire Truck on Thursday afternoon.

The new $1.4 million truck was delivered after being featured at a national fire chiefs conference where it was highlighted because of its one-of-a-kind 9/11 paint job to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001. The paint job features all the names of the New York Firefighters who were killed responding to the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers.

New York City firefighters helped design the 9/11 20th Remembrance theme, said Donnie Weeks of Bonaventure Fire and Safety of Monticello that sold the Rosenbauer truck to Madison County.

In addition to the 9/11 paint job, the new truck also features a 2,000 gallons per minute pump that at the tip will flow 1,500-gallons of water.

“This truck is all hot-dip galvanized, so the ladder and everything has a 25-year corrosion warranty on it,” Weeks said. “The body has a lifetime transferable warranty on it.”

The truck also features an air scrubber in the cab.

“Every 60 seconds, all the air in that cab is scrubbed and cleaned and takes the carcinogens out of the truck,” Weeks said. “This truck is pretty much loaded. It has a remote control that I can operate up to 500 feet away. I can operate the ladder, the platform, and I can also operate the waterway on it.”

The truck also has an aerial platform that articulates, said Minor Norman, Madison County Fire Services coordinator.

“They have it where the platform articulates down where you can be on the ground and walk into it, instead of having to climb on the back of the truck and walk down the ladder to get in the bucket,” Norman said. “It has got a lot of good features.”

Weeks said the platform could articulate down and place behind a 5-foot parapet wall on a roof like the one the new Amazon facility will have.

“Once I get over it, I’ve got a remote or another lever that I can set you right on the ground and it works great for ventilation on houses,” Weeks said. “The firefighter never has to leave the basket to ventilate. They can set him anywhere he needs to be without having to step on a roof that may be burnt underneath or may be in trouble.”

District 1 Supervisor Sheila Jones, District 4 Supervisor Karl M. Banks and District 5 Supervisor Paul Griffin were on hand for Thursday’s delivery along with County Administrator Shelton Vance, Madison County Board of Supervisors Attorney Mike Espy, Madison County Chancery Clerk Ronny Lott and Comptroller Na’Son White.

Most of the public officials took turns riding on the 101-foot high ladder of the new truck that was paid for in part by a $750,000 appropriation from the Mississippi Legislature.

The new truck will be kept at the new Central Fire District in Canton that will be manned 24-7 and, officials said, will be instrumental in helping protect businesses and industries at the Madison County Megasite that will be home to a new Amazon distribution center among others.

Last week, Madison County Supervisors voted 3-2 to abandon plans to create a Megasite fire district that had been in the works and to keep the truck in the newly created Central Fire District in Canton that Banks said was created earlier this year in an attempt provide adequate fire protection throughout the county.

“We were trying to create countywide fire protection and so far we have blanketed this county from the south to Canton but going north we still have a lot of isolation,” Banks said, “so we create this district because we have created a district in Camden, we have created a district in Farmhaven, we have created a district in the Sharon area. This area was not a district around Canton.”

Shortly after the Central Fire District was created and the new fire truck was purchased, however, supervisors, on a motion made by District 3 Supervisor Gerald Steen, voted 3-2 with Banks and Griffin voting no to create a separate fire district for the new Megasite where the truck would be kept.

Supervisors reversed that decision last week.

Banks said the Central Fire District will be able to protect the old houses and buildings in Canton in addition to the buildings at the Megasite and hopefully provide a better fire insurance rating for the area which will help lower insurance rates.

“Everybody in town was class 10, which as far as the rating bureau is concerned and the insurance is concerned, it is non-protected,” Banks said of the central Canton area. “A 10 is non-protected. Now the majority of Madison County is at least in a 7, I think, or a 6.”

Norman said the new fire truck and the Central Fire District will serve the county well.

“It is going to be a real benefit to everybody around Amazon,” Norman said. “With Amazon coming everybody is benefitting now.”






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