The Magnolia Volunteer Fire Department’s fire fighting capabilities recently grew with the addition of two new “booster” trucks.

Last week the Department unveiled its two new trucks, which will be housed at stations in Decker Prairie and at FM 2978 and FM 1488, respectively.

By allocating the two boosters to the two stations, each MVFD station now has it’s own apparatus.

Assistant Fire Chief August Nauman explained that the booster trucks, which each carry up to 300 gallons of water, are designed primarily to handle smaller blazes, such as brush or grass fires. The trucks are equipped with four-wheel drive capabilities, which allows them to access locations that the larger trucks would not be able to.

Pictured, TurnKey CFO Dane Ray (left) and Magnolia Volunteer Fire Department Assistant Chief August Nauman (right) stand next to a booster truck recently unveiled by the Department.

The trucks are also equipped to handle medical calls, which Nauman explained makes up the bulk of the calls the Department responds to. He added that the Department responds to about one call per day, either fire or medical-related.

The addition of the two booster trucks increases the total amount of trucks and other emergency vehicles to 34 for the entire department.

This past spring, the purchase of the two trucks was approved by the District 4 Emergency Services District Board, the governing authority of the MVFD. According to Nauman, each truck came with a $100,000 price tag, fully equipped, which he calls a “very good deal.”

Once the purchase was approved by the ESD board, the Department put the project out for bid, with the winning bid being submitted by TurnKey Industries. TurnKey is a Magnolia-based company that specializes in truck body manufacturing.

Nauman said the Department saved “about $30,000 per truck” by opting to work with a local company.

Dane Ray, TurnKey CFO, said his company has worked with local fire departments before. Not only did TurnKey build the vehicles, he said, but also provides a service department dedicated to fire fighting vehicles.

Nauman said the Department is hoping to add three more tanker trucks to its fleet by the end of the year.

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed