By Karla Ward
Lexington Herald-Leader
LEXINGTON, Ky. —The Lexington Fire Department has donated an SUV to the Neon Volunteer Fire Department, which lost seven of its fire vehicles in the flooding that devastated Eastern Kentucky last summer.
The 2005 Ford Explorer was one of several support vehicles that the Lexington Fire Department had recently replaced. The fire department said in a news release that they were in the process of being prepared for surplus when the city received an email from the Kentucky League of Cities asking for vehicles for Neon.
The SUV will become the Neon Volunteer Fire Department’s new incident command vehicle. Their old incident command vehicle was a total loss, the news release stated.
Neon Fire Chief Carter Bevins, who has served as the department’s chief for 45 years, said the department lost two fire engines in the flood, so a replacement engine is now the department’s most pressing need.
“We have made a lot of progress, but there is still a lot of work to be done,” he said in the release. “We are grateful for the SUV donation and will put it to immediate use.”
Neon’s volunteer fire department has 39 firefighters and handles an average of 3,500 fire and EMS runs each year, serving a population of 10,000 in the area, which is in Letcher County, about three hours southeast of Lexington near the Virginia border.
“Our mission as firefighters is to help people, and in this instance, we are able to help those who help others, which is very rewarding,” Lexington Fire Chief Jason Wells said in the release. “Neon faces years of rebuilding and untold challenges. We are happy to help in this small way.”
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