By Erica Smith
The Decatur Daily
ATHENS, Ala. — The Athens Mayor and Athens City Council strained with all their might Monday to push a new fire engine, but it was the Athens High School football players who took the brunt of the 75-foot custom-adorned truck and got it in the bay.
Athens has a new “Screamin’ Eagles” fire engine all decked out in black and gold in honor of Athens High School, the Golden Eagles.
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“We kind of wanted to do something out of the box. Something that, not only us as a fire department, but the citizens could be proud of,” said Athens Fire Chief James Hand. “What better way to do that then have a school-themed truck.”
Athens has a slogan: “One Athens.”
“We thought it was a great idea to promote ‘One Athens,’ and that’s what the school system does,” said Athens Mayor Ronnie Marks . “So, we just got creative with a bunch of the guys and said, ‘Hey, let’s do it in black and gold, the Eagles’ colors.’ They’ve got to paint it from scratch anyway. It’s just a matter of what paint color we choose. And that was it.”
The new truck cost over $1 million and is called a quint due to its dual-purpose uses. It can be used as an aerial truck or a frontline pumper. The new truck can get in places that the platform fire trucks cannot, Hand said. The new truck will be used alongside the other fire trucks, but will also be on display at city events for public relations purposes. Hand said the truck is not replacing another one.
“We just had a need for an additional aerial,” he said. “With all the apartment buildings and hotels coming in, we decided at this time to get the additional aerial.”
The truck holds 1,750 gallons of water. It will be housed at Fire Station 1. On Monday, it was at Fire Station 2 for its dedication. Hand said Fire Station 1 will now have two fire trucks, but typically, each station has one truck.
“What this one right here will actually do is serve as a support vehicle to other engines,” he said. “If they have a (motor vehicle accident) anywhere, this is going to automatically respond with them. Of course, structure fires and things like that.”
Hand said it typically takes about three years to receive a truck after it is ordered, but this one only took about two years.
“We got it back a little sooner than expected,” he said.
Marks said they still have a critical need for a new fire station on the east side of the railroad tracks. He said the area would be Councilman Chris Seibert’s District 1 , which has seen significant growth.
“If we can find anything close to ( Athens ) High School, ( Athens ) Middle School, Athens Bible School, Sportsplex — we need a fire station in that area,” Marks said. “It will be for safety and response time. I would say the next one after that as we continue to grow is probably down ( U.S. ) 31 South or close to the Buc-ee’s area down that way.”
There is another fire truck on order.
“It’s probably two-and-a-half, three years out. By the time we build the other station it’s going to be needed and right now we have a need for a replacement,” Marks said. “We’re trying to stay, as much as we can, on top of this growth, which is very expensive.”
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