New fire assistance truck in Henry County
HENRY COUNTY, Tenn. — An old army tanker truck has found new life in Henry County. The Henry County sheriff’s department has converted the tanker truck into a fire assistance truck. The purpose of the truck is to assist fire departments in handling fires that may be hard to put out alone. “This truck is gonna greatly enhance our county volunteer fire departments capability and putting out fires in a timely manner by having additional water supply,” said Henry County Emergency Services Director, Ronald Watkins. With most fire tankers being able to a maximum of 2000 gallons, The fire support tanker can hold up to 6000 gallons of water. “6000 gallons of water will go a long way in a structure fire, and hopefully we can really save some property with this,” says Watkins. According to Henry County Deputy Chris Thompson, one of the biggest issues that firefighters encounter is the lack of fire hydrants. The new fire assistance truck will be able to quickly transport water to fire scenes. The truck has already assisted in multiple fires. “We have helped respond to volunteers fire departments mostly in the urban areas,” Deputy Thompson continues. “I think we responded and helped for the city withb our fire department no a couple occasions, and helped with 6000 gallons.” The Henry County Sheriff’s Department is hoping to obtain more tanker trucks. —
