Oktibbeha County Fire Department Gets A New Truck

OKTIBBEHA COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI)- Christmas is coming a little early for some firefighters in Oktibbeha County.

Volunteers in the East Oktibbeha County fire district received a new truck.

New fire trucks cost a lot of money, and for many volunteer fire departments it’s a challenge to raise the funds.

But in Oktibbeha County, firefighters and supervisors seem to be on the same page.

And that leads to safety and savings for local homeowners.

Fire Chief Greg Ball says in the past, when his team has asked for a new truck, they have been given one.

“Basically we ask for permission from the board of supervisors to provide us a truck which they hands down do that for us,” said Ball.

But what can be difficult is when each volunteer department needs a replacement.

“So every 15 years we’re trying to get a new truck in to replace an old one,” said Ball. “But with seven departments that’s pretty tough to do in Oktibbeha County because just about once a year we have to buy one of these to get it replaced to stay within the guidelines of the rating bureau to keep the insurance ratings down.”

And keeping insurance ratings down is a priority for Ball.

He says the addition of their new truck will keep help.

“Yesterday we came before the board of supervisors to actually try to expand our district,” said Ball. “So hopefully within a month we’ll be expanding to the north and expanding to the south in our rated district. So by the guidelines dictated by the state ratings bureau and all that this new truck Will greatly help out with all of that.”

And volunteer firefighter, Parrish Pettway, agrees.

“This is replacing an older truck, an 07,” said Pettway. “This is a lot newer, a lot nicer, a lot less hours, a lot less mileage, on it it will definitely help us get there faster, but I think it definitely should help improve the ratings big-time which will help people save money on insurance.”