Mayor: As Norris looks to replace fire truck, city is protected
This 1995 Ferrara pumper, the backup fire truck for the city of Norris, has been pressed into full-time duty since the loss of the city’s newer truck in an accident on Nov. 12. City officials say this will be the solution until a new fire truck can be purchased, but that the city remains protected. (photo:G. Chambers Williams III )
Officials said last week that the City Council will be tapped for money to help pay to replace the truck, which was destroyed in a rollover accident just two blocks from the fire station.
Replacing the truck could cost from $400,000-$550,000, City Manager Bailey Whited told the council during its Dec. 8 meeting.
Whited said the city is still dealing with its insurer to find out how much Norris will receive in the insurance payout, but he said, “We have been told it’s a complete loss.”
During the meeting, Mitchell assured the council and city residents that Norris is still able to answer fire calls with its backup pumper truck and assistance from the nearby Andersonville Volunteer Fire Department.
“It is a serious impact to the city,” Mitchell said. “But I want the public to know we have fire protection.”
The 2012 Emergency One brand pumper truck, carrying firefighting equipment and a 1,500-gallon water tank, reportedly rolled over three times, then came to rest on its side in the grass off the left side of West Norris Road, just past the turnoff to Norris Middle School.
A driver and a passenger, both volunteer firefighters, were the only occupants of the vehicle when it crashed, Fire Chief Rich Roach told the council at last week’s meeting. Neither was seriously injured, he said.
“They were responding to a wreck on Norris Freeway,” he said. “The driver was cited [by the Tennessee Highway Patrol] for no seatbelt, and he was treated and released for bumps and bruises.”
Neither occupant of the truck has been publicly identified, and the city is still waiting for a final accident report from the THP, officials said.
The city’s backup truck, a 1995 Ferrara model, is still in excellent condition and able to answer calls, the city said.
According to emergency personnel at the scene, the truck was responding to the traffic accident on Norris Freeway around 8 p.m. when its right-side wheels slipped off the pavement on West Norris Road, causing the truck to roll over when the driver brought it back onto the road.
It ended up pointing back in the direction from which it had come. It was left in pieces by the crash, with the hood smashed on the driver’s side, among other extensive damage.
The driver reportedly was momentarily distracted as he was trying to hang up the microphone for the truck’s two-way radio, Roach said.
Whited said that while the truck itself was considered a total loss, “We had minimal equipment loss.”
A new one could take up to two years for delivery once it is ordered, according to city officials.
The best option, they said, would most likely be to find a used fire truck of the same or newer vintage and specifications for a quicker replacement.
As for the truck that crashed, it was paid for by Anderson County under a program that provided new trucks to all volunteer fire departments within the county.
“I’m willing to go to the county to ask for help” in paying for a replacement truck, the mayor said.
Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank told The Courier News that the county no longer has the program that provided Norris and other volunteer departments a new fire truck periodically, but that each department would be getting $50,000 this year.
With only one truck available for its use, the Norris Fire Department will be limited in its ability to provide mutual aid to other nearby fire departments until a replacement can be found and put into service, fire officials said.
Still, the city can depend on assistance from other departments in the event of a fire in Norris that would require more than one fire truck to handle. The Andersonville Volunteer Fire Department is the closest one to Norris, and some of its members are Norris residents.