Board Approved the $7.5 Million Dollar Purchase of Fire Apparatus

Henry County is making a major investment into its fire department. The board approved a $7.5 million dollar purchase for new fire apparatus at the April meeting.

The purchase has seven vehicles. They are four pumper engines, two tanker engines and one ladder truck.

Purchase of Fire Apparatus

Henry County commissioners approved the purchase of fire apparatus at the April 9 meeting. The equipment is from Ten-8 Fire & Safety, LLC of Forsyth, GA. They are the local vendor for Pierce Fire Manufacturing. The order includes the following:

• 2 Stock Pumper Engines – not to exceed $2 million dollars
• 2 Custom-Built Pumper Engines – $1,890,232
• 2 Tanker Engines – $1,910,312
• 1 Aerial 107’ Ladder Truck – $1,689,413
• Total: $7,489,957

Delivery of the new apparatus will take up to four years. This is based on the current production schedule for ladder trucks. The fire engines have a delivery estimate of 2–3 years.

Delivery times for new vehicles have been lengthy since the pandemic. The fire department recently received new ambulances they ordered in September 2021. The board’s most recent ambulance purchase was in October 2023.

Fleet Replacement Plan

In January 2024, Henry County adopted its first annual replacement plan for the fire department. This plan outlines when to replace engines. The replacement plan covers all fire apparatus. This includes engines, ladders, tankers, rescue squads and ambulances.

The board’s purchase in April is the first vehicle order under the new annual plan. Here is a preview of the next few years:

Fire Rescue

• 2025 – order 4 engines and 1 ladder truck.
• 2026 – order 3 engines, 1 ladder and 1 squad.
• 2027 – order 2 engines and 1 ladder.
• 2028 – order 2 engines and 1 ladder.
• 2029 – purchase lease on squad.

The fire department estimates a 2–3 year delivery time for all orders.

Ambulances

• 2024 – accepted delivery of six new ambulances between November 2023 to April 2024. The department plans to order two new ambulances later this year.
• 2025 through 2028 – order two new ambulances and remount five existing chassis annually.

Featured image shows three Henry County fire engines. Clayton Carte photo.